Serene Noelle Uchiha
by ClearwaterInnocence
Summary: Naruto X OC I never knew of my family, I was abandoned at the orphanage in Suna a few weeks after my birth. But twelve years later with my only friend being the youngest son of the kage, my bloodline, Sharigan, activates when I'm attacked. Now I'm being sent to Konoha, the village of the leafs, to where one of my only living relatives live, the twin brother who didn't know I exist.
1. The Beginning of it All

Serene Noelle Uchiha:

It was a dark night, storm clouds were gathering over the sky. A young woman in a black cloak raced through the empty streets that held sleeping warm families and currently closed empty businesses. This young woman was from a place called Konoha, otherwise known as the village hidden in the leaves. However, she was currently running through the streets of Suna, the village hidden in the sand, a neighboring village but the closest hidden village near the leaves. The reason she wasn't in her home was because of the bundle she held protectively against her chest.

Inside the bundle of warm blankets, the baby she carried whimpered. This baby was her child, not just her child but her third child. This child was also her only girl, her first two being boys. Her eldest was about six right now and she had left him angry. He was angry because his baby sister was being pulled from his arms. She could tell that her eldest son would be the greatest big brother, protective of his youngest sibling only just born a few weeks ago.

Her other child also happened to be the twin of this child in her arms. Her husband…he was very powerful, actually the head member of their clan family. He threatened to kill both her and her child should she not get rid of her. The woman was many things but one thing she prided herself on was doing anything for her children. Her daughter would be much safer here in this foreign country then in their home when her husband may possibly run into her at any moment and get rid of her his self. Her husband thought girls would weak, that their daughter would do nothing but a stain to their family.

"My baby girl," the woman shed a single tear, gently placing her daughter on the doorstep of the orphanage. She ran a single finger gently over her baby girl's cheek. The baby screwed up her face like she was about to cry but was lulled back to sleep as her mother hummed softly. The woman quietly said her last goodbyes. "My little girl, I hope that we will meet someday again. And even if we do not, maybe you can meet your brothers. I am sure that unlike your father, they will love you. I wish for you to grow up strong, to be the best…shinobi you can be. Even if you do not wish to be a ninja, I hope then that you will be happy, to have friends you will count on, to one day find love with someone who would fully love not only you but all children you may possibly have together. Most of all, I hope that you will have the will of fire embedded inside you, my darling little girl. Goodbye, my sweet Serene, Serene Noelle Uchiha, my little star child." With one last look at her baby, she knocked loudly on the door orphanage and ran as fast as she could due to her old ninja training she hadn't used since she married. Nobody noticed the woman sneak out of Suna passed the guards the way she came in, tears streaking down her face,

Back at the orphanage, the baby Uchiha Serene woke up and looked at the retreating back of her mother. The baby screwed up her face and started to cry, her loud wails echoing over the street. The orphanage door swung over and a young woman with her brown hair in a messy bun picked her up surprised. They had lots of children but it wasn't often that one was just…left on the doorstep.

"What are you doing here, little one?" the woman asked, pulling open the blanket, soothing the baby back to sleep. There, stitched in fading quick done lettering: SERENE NOELLE. "Well Serene Noelle, I guess you'll be with us." The woman rocked the sleeping baby and carried her inside, closing the door behind her.

Six years later:

"I'm so tired of this." Six year old Serene sat by herself just inside the gate in the playground just outside the orphanage. She scowled. The little six year old was much smaller than the other kids since her food was often stolen from her and they had limited resources. But that was okay, she had learned to eat as much as she could. She wore slightly baggy clothing. She wore blue ninja sandals, with slightly too tight black pants that stopped just above her ankles. Her shirt was the baggy one, sleeve stopping just at her elbows, the shoulder falling down her arm since it was a hand me down from an older kid that left it behind after being adopted.

She was never adopted. She was considered far too strange to be taken in by a 'good natured family', as she heard one of the families she had briefly stayed with long ago. Those words always stayed with her. Despite living in a sand and desert country, her skin was always super pale and never got tan. She wasn't sickly pale and she wasn't exactly tan either. Her black hair was always straight, falling against her shoulders, two strands of hair framed either side of her face slightly shorter than the rest. Her eyes weren't like others. Her eyes were usually a dark grey color unless she was angry, then they would be a pure black color. Nobody else in the whole village had eyes that were completely black, maybe a dark brown but never as black as her own could get.

Serene had lived in this village for six years and even she knew she didn't belong. She was just happy because she knew in the next week, she was one of the few who managed to be accepted into the ninja academy. The orphanage always scraped enough money to send three orphans to begin at the academy each year, always the one who had the best chance of becoming a ninja.

Finally sick of being in this orphanage, she stood ignoring the other kids like they always did her. She tucked the small blanket she always carried with her in her arms, the one she was found on the orphanage doorstep in, being leaving. Seeing the headmistress was busy pulling apart two squabbling three year olds fighting over a toy, she climbed the fence and started to the park where she could often be found.

She sat alone on the swing and lightly kicked her feet, holding the blanket tightly in one of her small fists. She heard someone begging for someone else to stop and looked up. There, in front of her was a little red haired boy about her age holding a teddy bear in one hand and just handed a large kick ball to one of the other kids. But she was curious as to why the other kids ran scared from him. That was when he begged them to stop, only when he raised his hand, a long string of sand reacted to him moving and grabbing one of the kids ankles, yanking them down.

The boy stepped back looking horrified as the kid shouted at him before limping off after his friends, ball in hand. I narrowed my eyes as they darkened to black, jumping off my swing. Holding the blanket tightly in one small fist, I tapped the boy on the shoulder. He jumped and looked at me surprised.

"…I'm Serene." I stated.

And like they said, the rest was history. That was the day Gaara Sabaku became my very first and best friend.

Six years later, I cried out as I was slammed into the wall by a ninja. This ninja was one of the many who had been sent to assassinate my best friend Gaara. Not a lot had changed in the six years since I met Gaara. I wasn't as quiet but I never talked unless I felt the need to talk. I had grown a foot and a half taller so I was still smaller than the other kids but only by a few inches now instead of a foot smaller than everyone else. My skin was still pale but I now stood tall with my back straight and head held high. My hair was now pulled into a tight ponytail behind my head although I still had two thick strands of hair framing either side of my face, smaller loose strands falling over my forehead. My eyes were still that dark grey coloring although they were now darkened to black in anger and fear. I was only a week from graduating the Suna Ninja Academy so I wasn't even a genin yet. I still lived in the orphanage. I didn't carry my blanket around with me anymore, although I still kept it under my pillow as I slept in a room I shared with three other girls.

Another assassin, his partner, had been after Gaara but I had managed to trick this one away by taunting it. He may not be very bright but he was certainly strong. I cried out as I was once again kicked in the stomach and rolled across the ground, covering myself in dirt and sand. Nobody would come, Gaara maybe. I knew Gaara could take care of himself, he was much stronger than me, but I didn't like him handling these things alone. Blood spewed out my mouth and I feared I would not survive this night.

The ninja stepped up to me crackling with laughter, his suna headband shining on his forehead. My body shook as I forced myself to rise, getting into the ninja taijutsu stance I've been taught. But something happened as blood spilt down the corner of my mouth and I spit out a mouthful. My eyes flared with a sudden power and the ninja gasped. I managed to use this to my advantage, giving him a hard high kick across the face, throwing him to the ground. He took off after that.

Confused, knowing he could have easily won against me since he was a jounin, I turned to my reflection in a closed business store. I gasped, jar dropping as I saw my eyes. They were no longer grey or even black. Instead, they were a vivid black with a single red comma symbol circling inside.

A few days passed and I found myself sitting in front of the hokage of the leaf village, studying me closely. After my kenkai genkai awoken, the village leader of suna had found out from the ninja that attacked me. Seeing that this was the 'Uchiha family' bloodline, he immediately sent me away to Konoha. He wanted nothing to do with the leaf village in his village. I could barely say goodbye to Gaara as I was dragged away by another Suna ninja, Baki, and left at the gates of Konoha.

Only the day before, the hokage sat Sasuke Uchiha in his office having recently got a letter. A letter he knew was true since he had helped the late wife of the Uchiha head out of the village to Suna. "What did you want to see me about, hokage-sama?" Sasuke Uchiha asked with his common scowl in place. The hokage could not help but wonder if Serene was anything like her brother.

"Sasuke," he sat down on the couch, pulling what was once thought of as the last Uchiha beside him. "I am going to tell you something that your family has been hiding for years. Very few people even knew of this and I was one of them. Just recently I received something that made me believe it is time for you to know."

"What is it?" the Uchiha boy demanded. He could see desire in his eyes. The boy was always looking for ways to get stronger. Only this time, maybe Sasuke would gain the will of fire. He didn't know a single big brother who would skin anyone alive if it meant protecting younger sisters, even some older ones.

The hokage took a breath and told the Uchiha what had never been told before. "Many years ago, when you were born, you were not alone." The Uchiha narrowed his eyes, obvious confusion swirling in them. "When you were born, your father grew…very angry. He threatened your mother and told her…he had to get rid of the other."

"The other what?" Sasuke demanded, tensing as his brain ran wild.

"The other child." The third hokage finally said. The Uchiha gaped in shocked and started to pace.

"You mean…" Sasuke finally started. "Somewhere out there…I have another brother?" he questioned.

The hokage shook his head, "No, the reason your father did not want the child was because it was a girl. Out there, you have a younger twin sister." Sasuke's eyes widened. "Your father believed that girls were weak and unable to amount to anything for the Uchiha clan. Because of this, your mother was given the choice of either giving up the child or having both her and the child killed. Your mother had no choice but to give up your sister. So your mother left the village for a week and just recently I received a letter. This letter was from the leader of Suna, the village hidden in the sand. One of their academy students who lived in the neighboring orphanage was attacked. She activated the sharigan to protect herself."

"She was attacked." Sasuke narrowed her eyes and the hokage hid a smirk behind his smoke pipe. Already, he could see the making of a protective older brother.

"Yes, and she'll be arriving soon." Hokage explained.

"When?"

"Tomorrow afternoon." Sasuke turned and opened the door. "Where are you going?"

"To get her room ready." Was what Sasuke said, leaving. He returned moments later, a light blush on his cheeks. "Um, how do…you decorated a girls room?" he shifted awkwardly. The hokage chuckled and followed him out.

That was when I came in nearly fifteen hours later. "So, you're Serene Uchiha." The hokage said, blowing smoke from his pipe.

I shrugged, biting my lip, "That's what they tell me recently." The hokage could clearly see the resemblance of both Uchiha twins. Serene, I sat perched in my little chair. I knew all about the Uchiha's. Everyone knew about the Uchiha massacre that happened when I was eight. I studied a little more on the road from a scroll when I learned who my birth family was. I knew my eldest brother was no longer in the village and my 'twin' still lived in the village in the academy. I was all twitchy, my leg was moving up and down, a nervous habit I had. I went from an orphan kid with no idea who she was to the only daughter of one of the most proudest clans in the nearest village I was raised in, a new brother I was supposed to live with and all.

There was a light knock on the door and one of the ANBU I've seen watching the village stepped in, "Hokage-Sama, the Uchiha has arrived." My leg started bopping up and down again.

"Send him in," third hokage said, standing up. I stood up myself, my single bag filled with all I own at my feet. It wasn't much, one or two extra outfits and a few photos I've collected over the years. The ANBU left and someone else entered. It was a boy, barely a few inches taller than myself. His hair was as black as my own but shorter than my own. When my hair was out of my ponytail, it fell halfway down my upper back. It was obvious we shared the same skin tone and his eyes were the same grey. Wow, if I suspected this had to be some kind of mistake of me being related to the famous Uchihas…there was no mistaking it now as we stood nose to nose.

Third Hokage put a hand on my shoulder and I looked up. "Sasuke, meet your sister Serene. Serene, your brother Sasuke. Why don't you two get acquainted at home? You both have the graduation exam tomorrow, I've already told your teacher Serene, I'm sure you're pass from the transcripts that I received.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage." I said respectfully. I already respected him a lot more than I respected the leader of the Suna village. He didn't seem like the type to send assassins after his own son because of a demon he put inside him. Yes, I've known of Garra's, 'tenant' since we were eight. He had to tell me after I was attacked by an assassin for being friends with the 'demon child'. I refused to leave either way, after all, who else would keep Gaara sane. Who knew how much worse he could have been without me around to randomly jump on his back.

Third Hokage ushered us out and we quietly started to the Uchiha district. Well I guess there was nothing to do now, I couldn't just turn tail and leave since I was actually here. We made it to the Uchiha district as the sun was setting and I had to say it in one word…huge. After getting passed the gate of the Uchiha district we walked up to a big house that Sasuke unlocked. We walked up and he picked up a second key on the table by the door, handing it over to me, pressing the small silver metal key into my hand. "You need a key to the house." he shrugged. I nodded understanding and slipped it into a smaller compartment of my side pack. It held kunai and shuriken in the larger part and the smaller one now held a key, also with a wrap of new bandages. "That's all you have?" he asked, nodding at my bag as if only noticing it was all I carried.

"It's all I own," I corrected with a self-conscious smile. Sasuke shifted awkwardly.

"You're room," Sasuke led me upstairs to the first room by the stairs on the left and pulled open the door, letting me in. I was amazed. It was done in different shades of purple. The room itself was much bigger than my room at the orphanage and I didn't have to share or bunk with someone else. The large bed was pushed against the wall with a dark purple bedspread. A light purple paint covered the wall, which was obviously new from the fading paint smell. Light almost see through lilac curtains covered the window that showed an old garden that was obviously hadn't been tended to in a while but must have one been extremely beautiful. There was a big wooden dresser against the other wall next to the door with a vanity mirror on top. A desk that looked like it could be for school work, or mission reports was on the other side of the window. The floor was a rich purple color and another door led to what I assumed was a closet.

"Uh…you like purple, right?" Sasuke asked, shifting in the doorway.

I nodded, trying to bite back a grin, "I love it." OK, I couldn't stop the grin, dropping my bag on the bed. "This room is huge too. No more sharing a half sized room with three other girls who are more interested in boys, stealing my clothes and hiding my kunai's in the morning when I'm running late for school." I stopped at the window, putting my hands on the sill to look out at my new home.

Sasuke jerkily nodded his head, "I'll uh…get dinner started while you get settled." He quickly left me to my own devices. I shrugged and started pulling out the stuff in my bag. I put one single picture I had on my bedside table. I wanted this room filled with pictures, memories forever entrapped in the ink of my most precious people. Right now, all I had was Gaara. The picture housed the both of us. I made Gaara use his sand to hold up the camera when we were alone in the park one afternoon exactly a week before my sharigan activated. I had the camera on timer so mentally counting down, at the last second, I jumped on Gaara's back. His sand never activated around me, apparently I was the only one he trusted enough not to put a kunai in his back. It was amusing. Me perched on his back with a wide smile, arms lightly wrapped around his shoulders. His teal eyes were wide in surprise which was an expression you didn't get too often from mister emotionless, his arms automatically wrapping under my thighs to hold me up.

I pulled out one of my two outfits and opened my closet. I dropped my clothes gaping at the at least ten different outfits that held in my closet. "I have a walk in closet." I gaped, examining my new clothes. They were at least a sized too big but…I could make them work.

Downstairs, Sasuke was filling up two plates, not used to making extras since he knew exactly how much he ate. But he knew next to nothing about _his_ _twin sister. _He never thought he would ever say that. All he knew was they looked exactly alike the main difference being male female differences, and that she apparently used to live in one room with three other girls who _dared_ to mess with a Uchiha child.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes but set the two filled plates on the table. For the first time, he had no idea what to do. He had never been a big brother before, what did big brothers even do? He knew what his did but…that murderer was the last one he wanted to look up to on how to be a big brother. Well, first things first since they didn't have parents.

Making sure she got fed.

"Uh, Serene! Dinner's ready!" he called up the stairs, only returning to the kitchen when he heard her door open. She appeared in the doorway. Her hair was no longer in her ponytail and laid just past her shoulders.

I sat down at the table across from Sasuke and picked up my chopsticks. Tonight's menu was a plate of rice with tomato slices on the side. I eagerly bit into one licking my lips as they were my favorite food although I couldn't often have them at the orphanage. I noticed Sasuke do the same the same time he noticed. We blinked, I grinned and he smirked before we once again bit into our tomatoes.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Who could say they bonded with their long lost twin over tomatoes.

The next morning, I was up bright and early for once getting ready after my morning shower. I loved that hot water since I always ended up being the last back in Suna so it was always with cold water left. I wore one of my new ninja outfits. I had blue ninja sandals covering my feet. There were black shorts ending just above my knees slightly rolled and buttoned at the bottom. A light blue shirt with long sleeves just passed my wrists and bandages wrapped around my elbows and my knees. My shirt had the Uchiha family symbol fan about the size of my fist embedded on my right shoulder like I've seen on Sasuke's. I pulled my hair into its customary high ponytail, pieces framing my face and a few strands falling across my forehead. My skin was always sensitive because of the sand in Suna so to prevent the scratchy feeling or any scars I had on leather fingerless gloves with a Velcro strap. I had a kunai holster strapped to my right leg and a side pack resting on my hip for small medicines, my house key, and an energy bar I would eat during missions if we were traveling. I also carried a simple handheld small camera. I wanted to capture my new life on film with all new memories I would have with my brother and hopefully what new friends I may meet.

Downstairs, I made Sasuke and I lunch, packing them away. It was the least I could do since he made dinner last night and I had a whole new home. The only thing I would miss back in Suna was Gaara but I was positive I would see him again, I called it female friendship intuition. "Sasuke, are you up yet?! Graduations exams are today!" I called, putting our lunches into paper bags. One bag had my name written on it in sharpie and another had Sasuke's. I had made each of us a rice ball and filled a small container with a few tomato slices.

"I'm right here." I jumped since Sasuke, already dressed for the day, managed to sneak up on me. I guess I was used for the creaking of wood and squeaking of old shoes that I hadn't noticed Sasuke. "You made lunch?" he raised in eyebrow, looking over my shoulder.

I nodded, wrapped up his bag and handed it to him, I grinned up at him with hopeful recognition, "Yeah, rice balls and tomatoes. I don't get the chance to cook often but I think they came out alright. And if they didn't, be a good big brother and pretend you like them."

Sasuke did that smirk I'm becoming accustomed to as he took the bag with his name, "Will do."

We started out for the day after he locked up the house and left the gates. Somewhere along the way, we ended up getting separated from the morning rush hour of everyone rushing off to their everyday lives rather it be school, ninja or civilian, or work, shinobi or civilians.

I walked around a corner, trying to find my way to the academy, holding my lunch bag in front of me against my legs. I stopped on the few empty street corners when I noticed two jounins stop in front of me. "Hey girl, have you seen a stupid looking blonde kid about your age in orange with paint buckets." Only then did I notice behind them, the four stone faces of the hokages were now covered in paint, graffiti. Looking closer, I noticed a ripple on the fence before someone re-hid behind a fence like paper they had, blending into their surroundings. I caught a flash of blonde hair.

I shook my head, "I think I saw him go that way," I easily and smoothly lied, pointing in the opposite direction. I stepped up to the fence covering when I finally could no longer see the jounin or sense their presence. "Impressive work," I admitted, pulling the fence poster down a little to see his face.

"How'd you know I was there?" the boy asked, folding up his fence poster. It was an actual cute boy. He had spiky blonde hair that I only saw on a handful of people. Only his was a much darker shade although still brightly blonde. His skin was sun kissed as if he spent a lot of time outside with odd whisker like birthmark scars decorating each side of his cheeks. His bright blue eyes were…darker than the sky but lighter than the ocean. Having hide my emotions more often than a kid should and hanging out with Gaara every day, I could clearly see this kid about my age hiding something behind that wide smile and look of idiocy he bore. The orange jumpsuit he wore wasn't that flattering, I couldn't understand why anyone would wear it but…whatever you liked, right?

"You were peeking out." I stated. "But you were quick, I only saw a flash of blonde hair." I ruffled his hair with a playful wink. He was slightly shorter than myself, maybe by an inch or two. He would probably outgrow me in the future, if he ever reached a growth spurt.

"Hey! Who do you think you are?" the boy scowled, swatting at my hand but I could tell he didn't mean it. More like…he wasn't used to affection and unsure of how to react. I may not show emotion a lot but if you become one of the few people I believe are precious, then I could be a force to be reckon with if you were in trouble.

I did redraw my hand, but only because I knew some people were uncomfortable with touch. I strived on being hugged since I never received any as a child although some may pull away from others for that reason, almost like Gaara. "Oh, I know who I am, but since I helped you, I would appreciate a little help myself." He closed his eyes confused and I was reminded of a cute sneaky little fox. "You wouldn't happen to know where the academy is? I'm running late."

I put on another mask, with my hands clasped to my chest and my eyes wide with innocence and sorrow as I had no idea where I was to go. "Uh..." he crossed his arms and nodded. "Yeah, it's right around the corner." He pointed over his shoulder.

"Thank you!" I yelled over my shoulder as I took off running. I briefly heard someone yelling at the boy but I thought nothing of it. Now that I knew where I was going and I wasn't going in the opposite direction, I wasn't about to stop for anything.

Hopefully Sasuke had made it and wasn't out looking for me or anything.


	2. The Academy

The Academy:

I found the academy relatively easily after getting instructions from that blonde kid. Who knew I was so close to begin with? I mean, I must have been around this block like three times already. They really needed to make that sign more seen instead of halfway hidden by that stupid tree. I found my way to the classroom, Iruka-Sensei, apparently the teacher was late himself. And let me tell you, this place was like a zoo.

I glanced over my new classmates, nobody noticing I have entered since they were busy doing their own thing, only a few actually stood out to my attention. One was a boy sitting in the middle row smirking, looking confident with a puppy dog perched on his head. I was wondering why they let dogs in since you could be dismissed for the day if you brought in any animal in during class hours in Suna. One I noticed was a girl this time with short bluish back hair. She was tapping her pointer fingers, looking around shyly. She had blush stained cheeks and the reason I noticed her was because I thought at first she was blind due to the lightness of her eyes. Under closer expectation did I notice that they were a more light lavender color so I played around with the thought that she may just have some kind of jutsu that deals with her eyes. I saw a couple of people in town at some point with eyes like that so I guessed they had to be related. One I noticed was a boy with curly brown hair and sunglasses despite being indoors, coat covering most of the bottom half of his face. He looked sullen and indifferent, not paying attention to anyone else but also seeming to notice everything…don't ask.

I noticed another boy sitting in the front row eagerly eating, stuffing chip after chip into his mouth. Another thing that wasn't allowed in classes in Suna, eating. He was a fat kid, maybe if he stopped stuffing it he could make a decent ninja but I haven't exactly seen his skills so what would I know. There was a boy in the back with a pineapple style ponytail sleeping in the back. Was the school here really that lax? It didn't seem like any of them would survive in Suna Ninja Academy if this was how they always acted. A girl I noticed had long blonde hair in a ponytail that reminded me of the boy from earlier but only because she was the only other blonde I've seen in the village. Her eyes were sky blue with no pupils.

She was arguing and shrieking like most of the other girls were. However she seemed to be having a very loud dispute with this one other girl. This one was really skinny, like the blonde, as if they didn't eat enough meat to get any meat on their bones. This girl had long pink hair down her back, pink hair that was natural from the looks of her roots, and bright green eyes. A big red ribbon held her hair out from her eyes. I managed to catch a few words of their uh…conversation? Apparently them and every other girl except that blind looking nervous girl were arguing for the 'honor' of sitting next to someone and I did hear that one person's name.

So I crept closer, saw him, and then casually sat next to my brother who looked indifferent, smirking when he noticed I had taken the unoccupied seat next to him as I set my lunch bag besides his between our legs. The whole mess of girls silenced, just staring and gaping at me in disbelief, wondering who the new girl was and what made her think that I could sit next to 'their' Sasuke. Please, I had more right to Sasuke then these so called Kuoinichis. How were they expected to be ninjas with all their shrieking. "Does this happen to you often?" I questioned quietly, stretching my arms over my desk, nodding to the silent girls.

"Every day," Sasuke smirked. I rolled my eyes and straightened myself up in my seat, shoving some of the hair framing my face behind my ear only for it to fall back into place.

"Excuse me, who do you think you are?" The blond girl, Ino, demanded angrily. Everyone was staring at us now.

"Yeah, you're not even in this class. What makes you think you can sit next to 'our' Sasuke?!" the pink haired, Sakura, all but snarled.

"I have more of a right to see here then you banshee's do." I scoffed.

"BANSHEE'S!" the girls shrieked.

I winched, rubbing my ear, "My point exactly." I stated. I almost laughed in amusement at seeing their faces turn an ugly shade of red. Before they could shriek some more, the door swung open. A man in his early twenties or so stepped in, he had dark skin, dark hair and a scar over his nose.

"Every one, just sit down and take your seats." Iruka-sensei said. The girls scowled but spread out to different seats, sending angry glares in my direction. How cute, they actually thought they were scary. Iruka-sensei dropped something in front of the class. The blonde boy who was scowling, also tied up with ropes.

"Who's the blonde?" I whispered to Sasuke. I know I ran into him earlier but that didn't exactly tell me who he was.

"Naruto Uzumaki, the biggest loser and disgrace of the ninja academy, a dobe." Was what Sasuke stated.

"Now class," Iruka started. "I'm sure you've noticed our new student. She will be taking the graduation exam with you tomorrow." Iruka-sensei announced.

The pink haired Sakura raised her hand, "But sensei, why is she just starting. There's no way she can be strong enough to pass the exams." She sent a death glare at me, as if she was actually stronger and could beat me. Please, I was the best in Suna Academy, just trailing behind Gaara and only because I made him study-help me for tests and he had a memory like a sponge. Plus nobody could land a hit on his due to his sand shield, and the fact is no academy kid wanted to go up against him.

Iruka put his hands to his hips, half holding a clipboard, "Sakura, I can assure you that Serene is more than capable. She transferred from Suna Academy near the top of her class from what her transcripts said. Class, meet our newest student…" he paused making it seem like a dramatic effect. "Serene Uchiha."

"Uchiha!" the class gasped, gaping at the twins. Blondie, Naruto, was louder than the rest. I scowled and I could see that everyone could clearly see the resemblance between Sasuke and I. We looked different when I was happy and he was always scowling but when we both did it…it could be near identical, the main difference being my longer eyelashes and not most of the time black eyes.

"Sensei!" Ino raised her hand in the row behind me. "Is Serene related to Sasuke-Kun?" Sasuke-kun? I snorted to myself. I was in class for all of five minutes and even then I could see Sasuke had no interest in any of these girls. I could understand that, who wanted a girl that burst your eardrums nearly every second and only wanted to be called the girlfriend of a clan member.

"I'm glad you ask, Ino." Iruka nodded. "Yes, Serene is actually Sasuke's younger twin sister who has…been away from a while and she just recently returned home to graduate and become a shinobi of the leaf since she was born here." Then the Naruto boy scoffed and scowled. I didn't like it, he didn't seem like the kid to scowl all the time. He looked better smiling…preferably a real smile instead of the fake one flashing at me earlier. "As for you Naruto!" Iruka suddenly barked. "I am at the end of my rope." I found it ironic he said that since he tied Naruto up with ropes. "You failed the graduation exam last time and the time before that. Tomorrow you have another chance and you're messing up again!" Naruto obviously didn't like the whole lecture because he scoffed and looked away.

Iruka was obviously angered because he used what I had heard of as a 'big head jutsu' that teachers use to make students behave…impressive. I might consider learning that one. "Fine!" Iruka barked. "Because you missed it Naruto, everyone will review the transformation jutsu!" the class groaned but I stayed silent. What was the point in moaning about it, you were going to have to do it anyway. Might as well stand up and get it over with. So that's what I did, I was the first to stand and the class started to line up in front of the class. Iruka untied Naruto and gently pushed him into line beside me as he grabbed his clipboard. He started listing off names starting with last name A's and going down. Each one called stepped up, transformed into him, got their A, than sat back down.

"Hi, Naruto-right?" I wanted to make sure I had that right.

He looked shocked that I was talking to him but I didn't see why. I thought it was pretty cool how he as an academy student was able to evade a group of jounin. "Yeah…Serene, why didn't you tell me you were related to the Uchiha teme?" he questioned.

Of course, those two must have some kind of rivalry issues going on. They obviously had some kind of…bad blood or something behind them. Wonder what happened but, whatever. I just shrugged, "I didn't know you and I usually don't go advertising my name around." I briefly heard, 'Haruna Sakura.'

Pink haired banshee stepped up and said in a loud almost squeaky feminine voice, "Alright, Sakura here, let's do it, transform!" she did the hand sign and a puff of smoke covered her. When it dispersed, Sakura had transformed into Iruka-sensei.

Iruka nodded, checking her name off the list, "Transformed into me, good."

Another poof of smoke and she was back squealing and jumping around. Ninjas were about sleuth, she obviously wasn't that sneaky. She immediately turned to Sasuke on the other side of me with a hopeful expression of glee. "Yeah, I did it! Sasuke, did you see that?!" Sasuke just looked at her bored with his ever present scowl in place.

"Please stop squealing." I groaned, rubbing my ear. Sakura glared at me but took to her seat. Then forced a smile and gentle wave to me. Great, she liked Sasuke and getting him wouldn't be easy if she was rude to his sister. I noticed Naruto looking at Sakura with a blush and dopey grin. Maybe that was the whole rivalry issue. Naruto liked Sakura who obviously liked Sasuke who clearly didn't like her. Wow, it was a love mishap triangle.

Iruka looked down at his list for the next name, "Next, Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke was expressionless as he stepped up. But he put his hands together and without a word, transformed into Iruka. "Good," Iruka nodded, checking off his name on the list. Sasuke passed by me as he returned to his seat. "Serene Uchiha next."

I noticed everyone watching closely as I stepped up. I was thinking, come on, that was one of the most basic jutsu's and I was one of the best in Suna Academy. Did they really think my transformation jutsu would be different than any of the others, who cared if I was a Uchiha. That didn't make my transformation any more special than the next.

I ignored them and put my hands together, "Transform," I muttered, more out of habit then actually having to say it. A puff of smoke surrounded me and I felt myself shoot up in height. My hair shortened, my clothes changed, and my skin darkened. When the smoke vanished, I looked like an Iruka twin.

Iruka nodded smiling, "Good." He checked off the newest name on his list as I transformed back. "Next, Naruto Uzumaki."

I passed Shikamaru, "This is just a waste of time."

"We always pay for your screw ups." Ino scowled.

I scowled, looking like a Uchiha more than ever, "Oh, stop complaining. How can you expect to be ninja if you can't even do your schoolwork without a complaint." I could feel their glares and scowls as I calmly took my seat next to Sasuke.

Naruto stepped up and put his hands together in the hand sign, "Transform!" he shouted. My eyes widened barely an inch, was it only me or could you see a thick strand of blue charkra surround him. Glancing around, it was clear only I saw, but dang that was a lot more charkra needed for a simple transformation jutsu. But he didn't transform into Iruka. Instead, he transformed into an original jutsu. It was an older female version of his self, clearly naked. This transformation was a tall and busty blonde with big eyelashes and puckery lips. Smoke surrounded her, covering private areas. I covered my mouth to prevent chuckle into my sleeve. Yeah, some may say that was offensive but you have to admit, how skill could this boy really become if he was able to create his own jutsu at age twelve. And besides that technique could help distract perverted men or on a seduction mission. Made me wonder what else he could do if he got really good teacher after graduation. Iruka wheeled back, a gushing nose bleed. Probably a closet pervert, and unwilling to admit it. Naruto transformed back into his twelve year old self and was crackling with laughter. "Got you, that's my sexy jutsu!"

"CUT THE STUPID TRICKS! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!" Iruka shouted, tissues now stuck up his nose to stop the sudden blood rush.

"This is pretty good," I grinned, happily biting into my rice ball. "What do you think?" I asked, stuffing another tomato in my mouth.

"Hn," Sasuke said, biting into his own rice ball, holding his bag with his tomatoes inside next to him.

I scowled, "Come on, I know you do, just admit it." I playfully elbowed him in his side. We were sitting around the corner from the academy on a park bench before we were going to head home.

Sasuke looked down at me then looked away scowling, "…Maybe just a little." He admitted. I grinned, knowing this was just the start of our sibling relationship taking off.

Later that night at home, I shrieked, throwing my pillow at Sasuke's head as he slammed my bedroom door shut. Last time I tried changing with the door unlocked, I was used to the other girls at the orphanage just bursting in at any time.

"I was just telling you dinner was ready!" Sasuke yelled over his shoulder as I pulled on my shirt and chased after him, throwing my pillow at his head.

"Then tell me that next time! Haven't you learn you should never enter a girl's room without permission! Especially your sisters!" I exclaimed, following him into the kitchen where our plates were set out.

"Must have missed that lesson," he muttered, sitting down at the table. I pouted but sat down across from him, breaking open my chopsticks. I grinned as I stuck the food down my throat. Who knows, maybe this whole new land with new family and life thing wouldn't be so bad.

Now if only I could teach Sasuke to knock before entering my room.

The next day at the academy, we did a written test for the graduation exam today. They were already graded due to some kind of jutsu only longtime teachers seemed to know. No surprise I got a perfect score, it was surprisingly easy compared to Suna standards. I was trying to get used to the easier system without harming my own advanced training.

Iruka sensei stood in front of us carrying a clipboard, "We will now start the last of the final exam. When your name is called, please report to the testing room. The final test will be on the clone jutsu." I smirked silently. I've known that jutsu since I was like eight, this would be a piece of cake. Hmmm, cake…that sounded good right about now. I licked my lips imagining biting into a big piece of double fudge chocolate cake.

I only snapped out of it when my name was called after Sasuke sat down beside me, a gleaming new leaf shinobi headband tied over his forehead. "Uchiha Serene."

I stood up and walked into the testing room. Although I knew exactly what I needed to do and how to do it, it didn't stop my stomach from twisting into knots. But I put a typical Uchiha indifference look on my face. Just black, something I've noticed Sasuke have often done. Although funny thing is, I've always used that look even before I came here when I didn't want people to know what I was thinking. Inside the room was a long time with at least twenty different leaf headbands still left for the reminders of our class and one more class coming in after us. Iruka sensei and a teacher helper, Mizuki sensei, sat behind the desk.

"Alright Serene," Iruka sensei said when I reached the center of the room, hands tucked in my pockets. "Real simple, all we need is a clone jutsu."

I nodded and put my hands together in the symbol, feeling my charkra spike, "Clone jutsu." I muttered. There was a puff of smoke and three identical clones of myself surrounded me, down to the very detail. Even my ponytail and hair framing and kunai pack on my thigh.

Iruka smiled, writing on his clipboard, "Congratulations, Serene, you pass!" he announced, picking up my new headband. Although I was neutral looking, I was grinning and jumping for the joy on the inside.

I bowed my head, thanked the sensei's, and slowly knotted the headband onto my forehead. The double knot behind my head was tied just under my ponytail and the strands brushed against the back of my neck. The few loose pieces that usually fell over my forehead now fell over the headband.

I straightened up and walked out, beginning my new life as a Konoha Leaf Genin Ninja.

I got outside and started to look for Sasuke. Most parents were here already and congratulating their children. My heart ache at thinking my mother could have been here to congratulate Sasuke and I before taking us to a celebration dinner. I couldn't care less about my father. I stopped in place when I noticed Naruto. I felt sad for him, he had gone in directly after me and was the only one in the whole academy this year who didn't pass. That must be a sucky feeling. He was sitting across from the school on an old swing under an older tree. He had his head leaning on the rope with a depressed look on his face that made my heart go out to him.

Maybe I could cheer him up…somehow.

However, before I could make my room, two older girls about sixteen stopped walking in front of me, looking at Naruto. I was surprised by the look of distain and disgust that it actually surprised me. I've only ever seen Gaara be looked at that way by the people of Suna village. But why would they look at Naruto like that?

"There, you see him?" one of the girls said scowling, like Naruto was some big animal in a zoo to stare at and mock.

"It's that boy," her friend stated, obviously knowing who exactly Naruto was. "I heard he's the only one who failed."

The girl before scoffed, as if she was superior, "Well it serves him right. Just imagine what would happen if he became a ninja." The girl said louder and I noticed Naruto could obviously hear them but was saying nothing, as if he was used to this type of behavior.

"And he's the boy who," her friend tried to say but the girl quickly shushed her and hissed how they weren't supposed to talk about 'it' before moving on. I narrowed my eyes, they didn't even notice me as they passed, I was just a twelve year old graduate as far as they knew. What would they want with little ol' me. Whatever the problem was with Naruto, I knew I had to find out. There just wasn't something right about this.

I mean, I knew Naruto was a bit of a prankster but to have so much hatred in one conversation over an innocent little blonde boy who only needed to learn how to truly smile. Or…maybe he didn't know how, I haven't seen him with one and I haven't seen him talking to any friends. He just joked loudly but never really talked to anyone specific, unless it was a yelling match with Sasuke. But that was more of a rivalry than actual friendship.

When I looked back to the swing between a gap of people, about to head over to him, I stopped only because I now noticed the swing was empty, going back and forth like it's occupant had jumped off and left in a hurry.

I jumped when someone grabbed my shoulder.

Near the door of the academy, Iruka-sensei and hokage-sama were standing with stony expressions, looking as the new graduates talked excitedly to their peers, close friends, and family members. "Iruka, there's something we need to talk about." Hokage-sama stated.

"Sasuke, one of these days I will actually stab you." I scowled, now half turned to him, a hand in my kunai pack.

"Sure you will," Sasuke scoffed as if he didn't believe I actually could. "Now come on, let's go home. We have to be here early tomorrow."

"But I could!" I exclaimed, following after him, all thought of Naruto forgotten…for now.

At his home, Iruka was spread out across his bed, looking at the now rising moon outside the window above his head. He was remembering earlier, when he had spoken to the hokage._"Iruka," Hokage-Sama started._

_ "What is it, Lord Hokage?" Iruka questioned._

_ Hokage-sama stated, "I know how you feel. You grew up just like Naruto and although I haven't known Serene for very long, I have been given recent reports that state she was just the same. Neither of you three knew the love of a mother or father, not even a sibling like Serene now has. None has known the warmth of a family."_

_ He remembered back to just under thirteen years ago, when he had been thirteen himself. He wasn't even a genin yet and had been forced to evacuate with the other children. But he had tried to stay behind. "No!" he wailed as one of the ninja's picked him up and ran out of there at top speed. "My mom and dad are still fighting back there!" he wailed, tears in his eyes, somehow knowing he would never see his family alive again._

He only snapped out of it when there was a sudden firm knock on his door. "Iruka-sensei, wake up! There's an emergency!" his long time best friend, Mizuki-sensei called sounding panic. Iruka rolled off his bed and quickly opened his door.

"What? What is it?" he asked surprised, seeing the wide eyed panic Mizuki held in his face and eyes.

"You need to come to Lord Hokage's right away." Mizuki said. "It's Naruto, he stole the sacred scroll."

"You mean the scroll of sealing?! NO!" Iruka exclaimed. Not Naruto, what was he thinking?

"I'll be right back, Sasuke, you barely have anything here to eat." I said, my stomach gnawing with hunger. I pulled on my sandals.

"Well maybe if you didn't eat everything for a midnight snack." Sasuke said with his ever present scowl. "Are you sure you don't need me to come with you?"

"I'm sure I can find it by myself now, I'll be back before you know it," I said, running out of the house and into the darkness that incased me as the sun started to lower.

I had found the store and was carrying three bags home when I noticed something running over the rooftops of the buildings. "Naruto?" I asked surprised, seeing the familiar orange suit and bright blonde hair as he took off to the woods, a large scroll on his back.

I couldn't resist the temptation to see what he was doing and followed, dropping my bags on the way. Something wasn't right.

I think I got lost a few times, I never spent much time in the woods growing up in the desert, but I found a trail. Good thing Naruto wasn't the best ninja and didn't think to hide his steps or where he was going. I found him nearly an hour later in a large clearing and only because I saw a log cabin through the trees. Naruto was sitting near it, breathing hard and looked like he had been obviously training.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" I asked curiously, tilting my head as I bent over him.

He looked up surprised, "What are you doing here, Serene?"

I looked at him indifferent with my hands on my waist, "I followed you. I was curious what a boy would be doing heading into the woods this late at night with a giant scroll on his back."

Naruto jumped up, "I'm going to graduate. Mizuki-sensei told me that if I learned a jutsu from the scroll, I could finally become a ninja!"

I narrowed my eyes, "Mizuki-sensei, you say? Naruto, this doesn't sound right, certainly not any graduating way I've ever heard about." I adjusted the headband on my forehead.

"But this way I'm so going to graduate!" Naruto insisted, waving his arms. "Mizuk-sensei is helping me!"

Not far away just on the edge of the village, Mizuki was heading into the forest carrying a giant shruiken on his back. A nasty grin stretched across his face, _"Now that I told everyone what Naruto did, I can eliminate him. They'll be glad he's gone. And of course, I keep the scroll for myself."_

Back in the woods, "Naruto, seriously, where did you get that scroll? It's too big to be a regular training scroll." I said suspiciously.

"Oh, this?" Naruto pointed his thumb to the scroll now on his back. "I got it from the hokage office!"

"You _what?!" _I gapped. If it was in the hokage office, then that had to be an important scroll and a twelve year old academy student should probably not have it and training from it. And that was even if they had to charkra amount to do it since there had to be important jutsu's inside. As tempting as it was to get stronger, I wasn't about to steal from the hokage to do so.

I was snapped out of my thoughts as the shadow of a man appeared over us, Iruka-sensei. I guess he was better than Mizuki-sensei. "It's all over, Naruto!" Iruka crackled; apparently pleased he had found the blonde. "And Serene, what are you even doing here?"

"I just showed up cause I saw Naruto running to the woods on my way home." I shrugged. I looked at the blonde only slightly shorter than myself next to me.

Naruto laughed, scratching the back of his head with that cute little fox like expression of innocence on his face, unaware that something was obviously wrong, "You're quick, sensei. I only had time to learn one technique. Listen!" he suddenly got real excited. "Iruka-sensei, I'm going to show you this amazing jutsu. Ooh, and I can even show Serene now! Then I'm going to be able to graduate! That's right, anyone who learns a jutsu from this scroll passes!"

I stared at him.


	3. The Demon Fox Kid

The Demon Fox Kid;

"Huh, where did you get that idea?" Iruka sounded honestly surprised, a look of worry on his face. I tensed, now I was positive something wasn't right. What would Mizuki planning that involved getting a twelve year old to do his dirty work.

Still full of excitement, not realizing something was obviously wrong, "Mizuki-sensei told me about it, believe it!" he turned to me to show Iruka the scroll tied to his back. "He tod me where to find the scroll and this place." He finally stopped and started to slow down, looking confused. He finally noticed something wasn't right due to Iruka's horrified and startled expression.

I heard a sudden rustle of leaves and I looked up quickly, one hand going to my kunai pack and unclipping it with practiced ease. "Look out!" Iruka screamed, sensing the same presence of someone currently unwanted. I felt what seemed like a gentle push against my back, send me flying into Naruto, both of us screaming as we were slammed into the ground and sprawling at least twenty feet away. I turned onto my side, looking up just in time to see twenty kunai's suddenly rain down on Iruka sensei, pinning him to the wooden log cabin standing behind him.

I stumbled to my feet besides Naruto, falling into the familiar taijutsu style I was taught in Suna. Mizuki-sensei stood on a tree branch above us smirking, "I see you found our little hideaway."

Iruka winched in pain, I noticed he had a couple kunai pinned in his shoulder, chest, and legs. I was relieved that at least he was still standing. Iruka clenched his teeth, "So, that'ss the way it is, I should have known."

"Naruto, give me the scroll now!" Mizuki snarled. I shifted slightly in front of the confused blonde. I may not know exactly what was going on but I did know enough to know that Mizuki wasn't supposed to get that scroll.

"Wait a minute, what's going on here!" the blonde academy student sounded horribly confused, poor kid was still trying to get his mind around how he was obviously tricked.

Iruka was breathing hard as he pulled a kunai from his leg, a stream of blood sliding down the corner of his lip, "Naruto, no matter what, don't let Mizuki get the scroll!" Iruka warned. "It contains forbidden jutsu that could put this entire village in great danger! Mizuki used you to get the scroll for himself." How did I get myself into this mess?

Mizuki was strangely calm as he said, "Naruto, Iruka is just trying to scare you because he doesn't want you to have the scroll." I tensed, ready to run if I had to, but not without Naruto. One thing I prided myself on was standing up for my friends. I could very well see Naruto and I becoming friends, maybe I could actually get him to smile without faking it for once.

"Stop lying Mizuki!" Iruka shouted. "He tricked you, Naruto!" I was clearly not supposed to be here but I got myself in this mess by following Naruto.

"Oh, I'm telling you whose really lying." Mizuki crackled with laughter. What was that supposed to mean?

"NO, MIZUKI!" Iruka shouted. Whatever it was, it was clear that it was big and important. Even Naruto looked confused about what they were taking about.

Mizuki grinned, obviously believing whatever he was saying was his supposed trump card in getting the scroll, "They have been lying to you you're whole life, Naruto, since the decree twelve years ago."

"What decree?" Naruto asked. I was born twelve years ago, was this decree before or after I was given to Suna?

Mizuki smirked, "Everyone knows except you and apparently Serene. She is new to the village and everything. Iruka's trying to hide it from you even now. He'd do anything to shut me up." What could be so big that everyone was trying to hide so bad?

"What is this decree, why does everyone know about it?" Naruto demanded. Apparently I wasn't the only one horribly confused.

"Don't tell them, it's forbidden!" Iruka roared. It had to be something big if even Iruka-sensei was trying to hide it.

Mizuki's shoulders shook with glee and crackling laughter, "The decree is that nobody can tell you the nine tail fox is inside you, Naruto!" he laughed. My eyes widened in shock just as Naruto's who was obviously clueless to this whole ordeal. But Mizuki wasn't done let, he continued, "The fox spirit that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed our village has taken over your body. You are the nine tailed fox!" I felt numb all over as I came to a conclusion as Iruka yelled at Mizuki. "They've been sneaking around and hiding things from you your entire life. Didn't you think it was strange how they treated you? Like dirt, like they hated you for just being alive." Naruto was…just like Gaara.

I turned around when I felt a spike of charkra being me. Naruto was going into a panic and his charkra was stirring around him, he was in obvious distress. "Naruto!" Iruka shouted.

Mizuki was obviously pleased with what he had just revealed, "This is why you will never be excepted in this village. Even your beloved sensei hates your guts! As does your so call new _friend." _He said mockingly. I wanted to be Naruto's friend, now more than ever. I knew how horrible the life of someone carrying a demon could be, I would never wish that life on anybody. People think the ones who carry these demons are evil but in reality, it was them who made them evil. Who wouldn't be after you neglected and abused these children beyond disbelief, and then you expect them not to turn on your village and destroy everything? If they really had so much power, don't you think they could level a village to get back at all who hurt them?

Iruka remembered back to what happened earlier that day, _Hokage-sama said, "Iruka, Naruto nor Serene had never had a mother or father to care for them. Naruto is shut out of everything and he doesn't know why. Most people won't even look at him. How would you feel if everywhere you went, people turned their backs on you? That's why he gets in trouble, so people will notice him. It may not so but he's always thinking about the family he doesn't have, he's hurting inside."_

Mizuki took one of the giant shriken's he had pinned on his back and circled it above his head, "DIE NARUTO!" Mizuki roared with glee, like he'd been waiting for this his entire life.

"LOOK OUT!" My female voice shrieking echoed over the forest, high pitch as Naruto fell back, trying to crawl away.

"GET DOWN!" Iruka shouted. I cried out as I was slammed into from behind. Iruka sensei had jumped over me, pinning Naruto and I under him, shielding up with his body as he took the oncoming hit meant for Naruto. The giant shuriken buried itself deep into Iruka's back. A drop of blood that spewed from his mouth landed on my cheek and I looked horrified. I know I've seen plenty of assassination attempts with Gaara but I've…never seen so much blood and life fading from someone's eyes. Gaara had always made his killing quick with a simple sand coffin.

"But…why?" Naruto whispered beside me, clearly stunned that anybody would risk their own life for his.

Iruka choked up, coughing on his own blood, "Because we're the same…all…all three of us. When I lost my parents…no one seemed to care, they didn't have time for me. They just forgot I was there. My grades dropped, I became the class clown. I just wanted them to see me and know my name. My schoolwork wasn't good enough to get their attention. So I did crazy things and then I had to pay for them. It was so hard. I know that's how you feel, Naruto and I can't even imagine what your childhood was like, Serene. But I do know that both of you have felt lonely and it hurt inside. And I could have been there for you more Naruto, and I could start including you in everything Serene, seeing you don't get along with your classmates. No one should be alone like that."

Mizuki chuckled in obvious disbelief, talking to Naruto, "Don't make me laugh! Iruka always hated you. He was orphaned because the nine tailed fox killed his parents. He'll say anything to get the scroll from you. And Serene…now that Serene knows, I doubt she'll ever want to see you again!" I felt hot rage roar inside me, seeing Naruto glance around, resting on me. He was clearly unsure what he should do now. He decided like any same human would, and took off running into the forest, scroll banging against his back.

"NARUTO!" I screamed. I couldn't allow him to continue thinking nobody would care for him because of what was inside him. I refused to let that happen. So promising I'll be back to get Iruka-sensei, I ran as fast as I could after Naruto.

Back in the clearing, Mizuki chuckled, "You know, once he makes up his mind, nothing can change it. he'll use the scroll to get revenge on the village after killing Serene. You saw the look in his eyes, didn't you? Those are the eyes of the beast."

Iruka forced himself to stand, pulling the shuriken out of his back. "Naruto. Isn't. Like. THAT!" His eyes were shadowed by his headband before he threw it as hard as he could at Mizuki. Because he was weakened and unbalanced, Mizuki was easily able to step-side it.

Mizuki just scoffed, "You're a joke, as soon as I eliminate Naruto and 'rescue' Serene then get the scroll, I'll be back for you." He took off.

Iruka fell to his knee, eyes shadowed in anger and dark, "I won't let you." He swore with all his fiber and being.

In the hokage office, the hokage was watching what was happening through his crystal ball. He saw Naruto running and he saw Serene trailing behind, trying to catch up. He shook his head, "This is not good. Mizuki has a big mouth. He made Naruto feel so bad, worse than he ever felt, it could release the power inside him. If Naruto keeps tampering with the seal, the fox spirit inside of him could come out. if that happens, I feel for us all. I only hope that Serene is able to get through to him."

"Naruto, stop running!" I shouted, adding charkra to my feet to catch him. I had to tackle him to stop running. He tried swatting me off with his hands, it was clear he didn't want to hurt me but was also clear he was in a panic. I turned him over to his back and sat on his stomach, pinning him to the ground by his wrists.

"Let me go! Don't you have anything better to do then being with a _beast." _Naruto snapped, tears in the corner of his eyes, squashing the scroll clinging to his back.

"You are not a beast!" I snarled, surprising him. I flipped my ponytailed hair over my shoulder so it was hanging down my back and out of the way. "I know I haven't known you long but I can see it, you are not what everyone believes you are."

"But," he protested. "You heard what they were said."

"I don't care what they said." I said firmly, looking into his wide distressed blue eyes. "Even if you do have the nine tailed fox inside you, that doesn't matter. It matters instead what you chose to do with this knowledge. I have a friend…back in Suna. He has one of the nine tailed beast inside of him and is treated similar to how you are. I became his friend when we were barely six and I found out about the beast when I was nine. Even after I knew, I realized that I didn't care because by that time, he was my only friend and I refused to abandon him. If we knew each other longer or if I had grown up here, I know we could be friends as well, beast inside you or not. This does not make you a beast. Now repeat after me. I. Am. Not. A. Beast."

I made him say it over and over again tell the distress faded from his eyes and he was practically shouting it. I sighed relieved, finally letting him go now that he wasn't going to run off, brushing the loose pieces of hair from my eyes. "Serene…" he said uncertain, now a lot more calmer than he had been.

"Yeah?" I asked, slightly out of breath from the run. Good thing I knew how to channel charkra due to the intense training in Suna or I would have never caught him.

"…Thanks," he said, looking up at me.

I couldn't help but grin down at my new friend, "No problem, anytime you need a violent pep talk I'll be here."

Naruto grinned and for a second, I could clearly see that this one was real. It was smaller than his fake ones but it was much weirder. My heart skipped a beat but I thought nothing of it, assuming it was just me being tired from the run. "And Serene?"

"Yep?" I asked, turning my attention back to him.

"Could you get off me now?" only then did I realized I was still sitting on his stomach. Only because I was a Uchiha did my skin not burn red although I did feel a certain pinkness gathering on my cheeks.

"Right…of course," I rolled off him and he climbed up, moving the scroll to hold it against his stomach. That was when we heard the yelling just beyond the tree line.

"You're a fool," I peeked around the corner of the tree, my black hair blending into my surroundings with ease. Mizuki was standing in the new clearing, Iruka-Sensei sat across from him leaning against a tree, a stray log beside him. "Why are you protecting that freak?" I narrowed my eyes, Naruto was a thousand times better than this chunin could ever be. Naruto's breath picked up, starting another panic attack as he cutched the scroll leaning on the tree beside me. "He's the one that wiped out your family."

I didn't think as I blindly reached behind me, setting a calming hand on his arm, clutching a handful of his bright jumpsuit. Iruka was talking, "I don't care what you say. You're not getting your hands on that scroll."

I could feel the tenseness Naruto held start to relax, "As if you could stop me."Mizuki scoffed at the weakened man. "Don't you get it? He's like me."

I could feel Naruto looking down at my hand but I thought nothing of it, narrowing my eyes in hatred at Mizuki, "How's that?" our actual good teacher questioned. I'm pretty sure Mizuki was fired after this…incident.

"He wants the scroll for his own power and his own vengeance. That's how beasts are. He'll pour all his rage into the scroll and destroy everything." Mizuki stated. I fingered my kunai pack…innocently, dark intents in mind.

"You're right." Iruka agreed. I gasped, absolutely shocked.

"So it's true."Naruto whispered beside me and I could practically feel the scent of doubt surrounding him. "Iruka-sensei believed in me. He thinks I'm a beast, some kind of…freak!"

"I. Am. Not. A. Beast." I stated, holding onto his jumpsuit and shaking him, not looking up from around the tree. "Do I really have to make you repeat it already, because I will."

"No," Naruto grumbled.

I nodded, "Good, because every time you don't yourself, I won't be afraid to slap you if I have to and make you keep repeating that phrase."

Then Iruka started to say something, continuing form his earlier saying, "That is how beasts are but that's not who Naruto is. He's nothing like that. Naruto's one of a kind, works hard, puts his whole heart into it. sure, he messes up sometimes and everyone jumps on him, but his suffering only makes him stronger. That's what separates him from being a beast. So you're wrong, he's nothing like the nine tailed fox. He's Uzumaki Naruto, of the village hidden in the leafs!" I ignored the tear that gathered in my eye, brushing it aside like it was just dirt that had got into her eye. She should have known Iruka-sensei was a much better person than Mizuki. But Naruto wasn't so lucky, he had large tears running down his face, looking more relieved than I've ever seen him.

Mizuki scoffed, pulling the second shruiken he had pinned to his back, twirling it, "You really believe that drivel? Iruka, I was going to save you for later but I've changed my min. you're finished!" he threw the shruiken.

Iruka bowed his head, accepting his death for what it was, _"So, this is it."_ but there was no sudden pain or death. Naruto had ran out and kicked Mizuki in the face. I used one of my kunai to throw at the giant shruiken, knocking it off balanced and it went flying into the trees.

"You alright, Iruka-sensei?" I questioned, standing up. At least he was still alive so that was good. Near Mizuki, Naruto straightened up, setting the scroll beside him.

"Not bad for a little punk." Mizuki stated, standing up.

In a surprisingly dark voice, Naruto's eyes shadowed by the green goggles on his forehead, said, "If you ever lay a hand on my sensei, I'll kill you!" I could tell Naruto was extremely serious, and he probably would.

Mizuki just laughed, obviously not believing Naruto could be a threat but I could see he had potential, he just needed a willing teacher, "Just big words, I could easily destroy you with a single move!" he held up a fist, his guard was dropped. I could throw a kunai and he probably wouldn't even realize it till it stuck him. But…I decided to yet Naruto have his moment. He needed a confident booster after a day like this.

Naruto put up a hand signal, "Try it fool, I'll give it back to you a thousand fold!" he announced.

"Let's see you try!" Mizuki scoffed. "Show me what you can do, nine tiled fox!"

"SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" Naruto shouted. I gasped, eyes widening in inch in surprise when a thousand Naruto clones, identical to the last detail, appeared in the clearing, in the trees, surrounding Mizuki and standing around us. Man, this kid had to have the most massive charkra holds I have ever seen. Especially for a twelve year old academy student. Not only that, but these weren't illusions. They were full and solid clones to the touch. If he learned this from that scroll then…this had to be an extremely advanced jutsu.

I could see between the gap of Naruto's, Mizuki was looking around panicked, falling over as he tried to figure out an escape plan but was too stun by the multiple Naruto's sounding him. I had a feeling nobody ever thought the kid was capable of doing such work, certainly earned my respect.

"If you're not coming," one of the Naruto's said beside me. I couldn't even tell which one was the real Naruto.

"Then we're going to come after you." A second Naruto further up said. Mizuki's scream echoed throughout the forest as the multiple Naruto's beat him up into a bloody pulp and I couldn't bring myself to care.

Afterwards, Naruto transformed back into one and stood over a beaten, broken, bleeding Mizuki. He chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head, "Oops, I guess I got carried away. You guys okay?" and still, he was concern after us after that short but entertaining fight.

I smirked all Uchiha like, putting a hand on my hip, "Somehow, I think we'll live."

Iruka was thinking, _"He's amazing. He wants to surpass all the hokages. And I'm starting to believe he might just do it. And with Serene Uchiha by his size…they might just make an unbelievable team."_

Iruka forced himself to stand up, "Naruto, come here for a minute. I've got something I want to give you." I looked up at him curiously as he made Naruto close his eyes. Naruto was already complaining after a silent moment. My eyes slowly widened in comprehension when I realized what he was doing as he pulled off his own headband, took off Naruto's goggles, and tied it around the blonde's forehead, his hair going back into cute messy spikes. Naruto opened his eyes, looking in clear disbelief when he realized what was now tied to his forehead.

Iruka grinned, pleased with himself, "Congratulations, you graduate!" Naruto just stood there gaping. "And to celebrate, all three of us are going out for ramen tonight!" Naruto kept gaping and Iruka frowned confused.

"FINALLY! I'm starving!" I exclaimed, never having got my midnight snack. "Now just say your thinks." I said, shoving Naruto into Iruka from behind. I couldn't help but laugh with them. Looks like I may be training with Naruto after all.

_Naruto and Serene…this is only the beginning. The road gets tougher now that you're ninja's. But if I told you that, I guess it would ruin the moment. So I'll tell you both tonight…over ramen._

"Hey Serene, what took you so long?" Sasuke asked when I got home.

"Oh…nothing." I lied with a secretive grin and I went upstairs to my room, closing the door behind me.

"Hey, what happened to the food!" he shouted up the stairs.

Why are you following me? You want to become the fifth hokage? Listen up you little shrimp. I don't care if you are the hokage's grandson. You can't just snap your fingers and become a top ninja. You better be ready squirt because if you even think of becoming hokage, you're going to have to beat me in battle!

"I know I'm going to get this jutsu soon, I just know it!" I said firmly. I stood in the training yard with Sasuke in the Uchiha district. It was really early and I was trying to learn this family fire jutsu. It was harder than I thought but I was starting to get it and we've been at it for nearly two hours and I was covered in dirt with my hair in a mess.

"You'll get in, but come on, we have to turn in our ID pictures into the hokage." We had taken our pictures for our ninja ID's early this morning with the photographer on the roof of the academy. I think I looked pretty good with my confident smirk.

"Oh, fine," I pouted, "But I'm still going to get it, someday soon too!" I went upstairs to shower and change into my regular clothes I could easily move in, being a ninja and all. My customary blue sandals, black shorts, and long sleeve blue shirt. I had to go alone to the hokage's apparently because Sasuke 'forgot' to tell me he already submitted his while I was…away last night. He still had no clue I was 'befriending' a blond boy orange wearing kid.

Just outside, I had to pull myself to a sudden stop when a little kid about eight with a long blue scarf trailing behind him nearly ran me down. "Hey, watch we're you're going!" the kid shouted at me, running into the building.

"Same to you kid!" I shouted after him as the door swung close. I scowled, adjusted my headband, and followed him in. It didn't take long to find directions to the hokage office. Apparently being one of the last Uchiha's had its…perks. When I reached the room, I just stared silently at the crying eight year old curled into a ball in the middle of the floor. I looked up with a bored expression to Naruto standing there stunned, "What'd you do, Naruto?" I asked my newest friend.

"It wasn't me!" he wailed.

I smirked, "I know, I just lie riling you up. It's amusing to me."

Naruto scowled, "You Uchiha's get a kick out of that, don't you?"

I shrugged, "Don't ask me. You'd have better luck asking Sasuke-onii."

"What can I help you with, Serene?" Hokage-sama questioned.

"I just came in to turn in my photo ID picture." I explained, stepping around the wailing kid with uncertain and handing him the smirking picture that held my face and upper shoulders.

Hokage-sama nodded, "Now this is what a ninja photo ID should look like." He stated, shooting Naruto a look as he handed his assistant my photo to place in my file. To no surprise, Naruto had obviously done something wrong with his photo from the way he was scowling.

Realizing he wasn't getting any of the desired attention, the kid known as Konohamaru climbed to his feet scowling, "Something tripped me!" he wailed.

That was when a taller man in his mid-twenties rushed in wearing all black. This included a black bandana on his head and black sunglasses. "Are you ok, honorable grandson? Oh, and by the way, there's nothing here for you to trip on. It's pretty flat." He adjusted his sunglasses. Did he think they made him look cool? Or did he just have a sensitive eye problem.

The kid looked at me, apparently I couldn't have done anything to him since I came in after he tripped. So he turned his attention on Naruto who had been sitting innocently in his chair the entire time, just staring at the midget eight year old kid. The kid, Konohamaru, stormed up to Naruto, pointing his finger at him and declared, "Alright! You're the one who tripped me, aren't you?!" he wailed.

"You can't just decide things like that! He hasn't moved from his seat!" I said, my eye twitching.

Naruto wasn't having any of it because he stood and jerked the kid up by his scarf so the kid was barely on his tip toes, "You tripped over your own feet, dork!" Naruto snarled. He wasn't nearly as angry as he was last night but it was clear he was still ticked off.

The man, Ebisu, protested greatly, "Hey, take your hands off of him right now! He is the honorable grandson of the honorable third hokage!"

This kid…grandson of hokage sama? I looked between the kid and the hokage, "…I don't see the resemblance." I decided.


	4. Konohamaru

Konohamaru:

Konohamaru thought, _"That stopped him, just like all the rest. Ha! Now that he knows who I am, he won't dare lay a finger on me." _He opened his mouth and spoke, "What's the matter, I thought you were going to hit me tough guy! Afraid because the third hokage is my grandfather?!" (A/N: Can't help but wonder what Konohamaru, grandson of the third hokage, would do if he learns Naruto is the son of the fourth hokage).

"Little brat," I snarled. I didn't care who he was, I hung out with the kage's children on a daily bases, or at least the youngest who was the most dangerous. A grandson to a kind old man didn't impress me.

But Naruto snapped, "I don't care if he's your grandmother!" Naruto yelled, dropping him to his feet and harshly hitting him over his head. "So believe it!"

The kid seemed to fall in slow motion, hitting the ground dazed, _"This guy's…different."_

"Well I can't say I blame you, he was getting annoying." I said, not having to raise my voice to be heard. "Come on, you can show me around town," I randomly decided, grasping Naruto by the arm and dragging him out.

"Where are we going?!" Naruto exclaimed as I pulled him out.

"I told you, you're going to show me around. So let's start walking." I declared, letting him go and straightening his jacket from where I had pulled on it. "Now, let's get to it!" I turn around, hair flying and started down a side street, Naruto following behind with his arms tucked behind his head.

"Where'd he go!" Ebisu wailed as he noticed Konohamaru had disappeared in the middle of his speech.

The hokage adjust his hat, "I think he followed Naruto and Serene but I have no idea where they're going."

"He's with Naruto and Serene?!" Ebisu exclaimed. "Serene would be a good choice since she's part of the noble Uchiha clan. But with someone like Naruto with them…that's a disaster. HONORABLE GRANDSON!" He wailed, running out in a mad panic.

"You do realize we're being followed, right?" I asked after a moment's of silence as we walked. It was surprising how empty this street was compared to the crowded main street of Konoha.

"Yep," Naruto said as we clearly heard footsteps behind us. We looked over our shoulders walking, and noticed a small boy suddenly pull a sheet over himself, trying to make it look like a rock. It was a poor hiding spot since we could clearly see his feet he hadn't even bothered trying to hide. We continued on and my eye twitched. I never liked being followed. Konohamaru once again tried hiding with a fence sheet like Naruto had when I first met him. Only you could clearly see his fingers holding onto it and the top of his hair sticking out of his helmet. "I know you're following us so you better just give it up!"

"I hate being tracked down like this so just beat it kid. Man, why couldn't today be an academy day?" My eye ticked again as I curled my fingers into fists. It was Sunday so our orientation wasn't until tomorrow where we'll be welcomed into the ninja world and accepting missions.

Konohamaru chuckled, lowering the sheet, "So you've figured it out. The rumors about you are true. You are good," he stormed up to Naruto and pointed his finger at him. "Alright, I'll be your apprentice and you'll be my trainer." Then he turned to me and bowed lightly, "And you of course, please."

"How come she gets a bow?" Naruto pouted.

"Not like I asked for it." I muttered, shifting uncomfortable, never having been bowed to before.

"Well she's the long last only heiress of the Uchiha clan. I've done my research." Konohamaru explained superior. "You're supposed to be good so I want you to supervise my training while Naruto teaches me that sexy jutsu move he used on grandpa hokage."

'Is this kid for real?' I thought in disbelief.

Naruto crossed his arm, obviously not believing this just as I was, "This is some kind of joke, isn't it?"

"Don't you have a trainer anyway?" I asked, remembering the black dressed man from earlier.

"No way, I can't learn anything from him!" Konohamaru exclaimed. "I need new trainers, please boss, please boss-hime."

"Boss?" Naruto asked surprised.

"Why am I a boss princess." I scowled. Being a princess never interested me. Most princess' I've read about was just sitting around for some prince charming to save them. Please, I'd rather save myself than anything else.

"Because you're a clan heiress!" Konohamaru exclaimed. "Boss! Boss-hime! Boss! Boss-hime!"

"Well, Serene, you wanna do this?" Naruto asked me.

I shrugged, "Give me something to do today. Just please, make him stop repeating that." I groaned, rubbing my ears as I followed the boys into the crowded streets of Main Street.

And so Naruto started his 'ninja lessons'. "Alright, you want to be a ninja? Then believe it, you've got to learn how to control your cat-chra?"

"What's cat-chra supposed to be?" I said confused. Certainly not something I've ever heard of.

"I'm talking about cat-chra!" he said like it was obvious.

"Uh, boss…I think you're talking about charkra." Konohamaru guessed. That would make a lot more sense, and obvious right from Naruto's expression when he realized he was wrong. This kid may have huge amounts of charkra reserves but in the brains department, he wasn't that high up.

"Don't question me!" Naruto barked, trying to shake it off, "Real ninjas say cat-chra."

"Suurrreeee they do." I said but Konohamaru was readily to agree. This kid believed everything Naruto sprouted out. He would probably believe horses and pigs could fly if the blonde stated they could. That was a bad example since I met this one guy when I was little and he had a summons horse that he attached wings to. They couldn't fly much but…still.

Naruto straightened himself up, "Listen, I'll explain what charkra is."

"Charkra is the ultimate life energy that is used to perform jutsu." I interrupted, reciting the memorized definition.

Konohamaru picked it up and it was impressive knowledge, "The ninja arts combine physical and spiritual energy with every cell in the body which is intensified with training and experience. When these two charkra mix with special hand signs allowing the user to combine energy for advance jutsu."

"Know it all! You were just reading from that old thing!" Naruto barked when we noticed Konohamaru had just pulled a scroll from his pocket and was reading from it. A lot less impressive. Naruto continued, "Yo, you can blab all you want about ninja techniques but it really comes down to one thing."

"What is it?" Konohamaru asked.

"Yeah, what is it, _Naruto." _I said teasingly although it was still curious what this 'one thing' came to.

Naruto pouted at me but announced it was, "Just plain hard work and guts." That…actually sounded right.

Konohamaru being smart stated, "That's two things but ok, I'm with you!"

Naruto nodded, "Alright, I'm going to throw some big challenges at you know, are you ready?"

"I'm ready, boss!" Konohamaru readily agreed.

"Good, then show me your transformation jutsu." Naruto stated. Konohamaru looked surprised, obviously not expecting to use jutsu so beginning into training.

"Kid, you need to show us what you can do. How else is Naruto supposed to get you to the next level if he doesn't know where you are?"

Konohamaru nodded, "That makes since, boss-hime. But uh…what should I transform into?" he questioned.

Both boys looked at me and my eye ticked, "Not a chance." I wasn't allowing a kid to corrupt my face by allowing himself to become me.

"Oh, alright, how about her then?" Naruto suggested, randomly pointing to a pretty brunette in purple standing at a nearby fruit stand.

"No problem, here I go! Transform!" Konohamaru turned into a larger and fatter version of the girl with big puffy cheeks and spikier hair. "Well, do I look like her?" his voice was deeper.

"…Wow," I said in disbelief. Then again this kid was only eight, no wonder he had a private tutor like Ebisu.

Naruto looked put out and unsure, "The clothes…kinda look like hers." Well, at least they were purple. Then I felt a deadly anger aura behind us. The lady we were using as our transformation usage.

"That looks like me!" the woman snarled, raising an angry fist, eyes burning.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." I intercepted the fist, blocking it with practice ease against the civilian. Naruto was about to let her actually hit him despite being a fast runner from what I've seen.

"And who do you think you are?" the woman snarled angrily, holding up her weak little fists compared to my own. She was just a civilian and I was a ninja in training.

Looks like, for the first time, I was using my family name. it was kind of amusing to see people reacting and sucking up. Although I wasn't stupid enough to know enemy ninja wouldn't attack me just because of a family name. So I straightened myself up, plastering a Uchiha only smirk, "I'm Serene Uchiha." I noticed her eyes widening and her stuttering. "Now, can we help you?" I asked with an almost chilling scary smile.

"Of-of cour-course not Mi…Miss Uchiha, please forgive me! I meant not-nothing of-of it." the lady quickly went off to a ramble of apologies. I ignored her and she finally ran off.

"You didn't have to do that, you know." Naruto stated as I finally turned back to the boys.

I shrugged, "I don't like people who think they're so much better than everyone else. It was sickening, honestly." I admitted.

"I just discovered something." Konohamaru said, shaking wide eyed.

"And what is that?" I asked.

"Women are scary," Konohamaru whimpered. I gave a chilling smile, enjoying the way both boys coward in their boots.

We found our way outside of a nearby bookstore Naruto led us to. Apparently this was the 'second step' of how he created the Sexy Jutsu. "Alright now, it's time to do some research on female beauty."

"I'm a female, you know." I reminded him.

Naruto waved a hand dismissive, "I meant in actual female."

"Naruto!" I snarled, hitting him over the head with my fist myself before storming in.

"What'd I say?" Naruto wailed, following me in with Konohamaru pass the sleeping storekeeper, clutching his head. His 'actual female' was women in bathing suits in a magazines with a big chest and curves. I was just starting to develop so you could barely see the lumps on my chest through my shirt although I suppose you could easily feel it, not that I let any guy close enough to feel up my chest.

"I'm surrounded by perverts," I decidedly muttered, crossing my arms and propping my foot against the shelf behind me, leaning back. "Nothing but perverts, shouldn't surprise me since I'm hanging out with nothing but boys. Why am I not surprised?"

Then the storekeeper apparently awoke, storming over with a mop slung over his shoulders, "This is not a library, NARUTO!" the man wailed. Looks like my job was never done, I thought as I casually intercepted the mop and tossed it aside.

"This really needs to stop happening." I blew a tuft of hair out of my eyes.

"Miss, that was uncalled for!" the man snarled.

"The name's Serene Uchiha." I scowled. My presence had already been announced to the village but I was still pretty new so not everyone had seen me. I notice him start to stutter before steeling himself up.

"Miss," he whispered to me like it was some big secret he was telling me, pulling my away. "You need to know about that kid you're hanging out with. He's nothing but a demon child, a monster."

My eyes narrowed and I yanked my arm away, "The only monster I see here is you." I snarled, yanking Naruto and Konohamaru out by their wrists with no intent to return to the establishment. The man just gapped, apparently not used to irate pre-teen twelve year old girls.

Our last stop was the local bath house. I leaned against the wall like I had at the bookshop, arms crossed with leaning against the wall with my foot propped up behind me. "Okay, this is our last stop so pay attention."

"Right boss," Konohamaru said.

"Transform!" the two transformed. Naruto turned into his older teenage female version of himself, only with his regular clothes actually on. They were usually baggy but they were tight fitting now since he was taller and filled out with a female body. Konohamaru turned into a fat slightly taller chubby cheeked female version of himself.

"Aren't you coming in?" Naruto asked in the doorway of the female baths.

I scoffed, "You're on your own with this one." I decided, closing my eyes, letting the cool breeze wash over me.

To no surprise, only seconds later did I hear the whole female side of the bath house shrieking. Apparently Naruto did this a lot so he was easily recognizable. A girl that sounded a lot like Ino shouted, "Naruto! You again, stay out of the girl's locker room!"

I cracked one eye opened, looking at their sprawled forms as they were kicked out of the bath house, hitting the ground and turned back into their original forms. Naruto was clearly beat up. "You've got to admit, you deserved that one."

Naruto groaned and Konohamaru was whimpering about girls being scary again.

We found our way into the woods for 'private training'. "Why do they only whack me?" Naruto whined, winching as I sprayed one of his head wounds with medicine and taping a bandage to it.

"Because you're a guy sneaking into the girls bath house and corrupting another young guy who doesn't even know why that would be unacceptable. This one you actually deserved, maybe it'll teach you a lesson. By the way, you ever do that while I'm in there, you would get a lot worse." I grinned all chilling and Naruto knew I would do well on my words, shivering in fear. He wasn't scared to run away and not be my friend but it still crept him out, and with good reason too.

Konohamaru, however, obviously wasn't paying much attention to my little speech, he had other things on his mind. "I'm sorry," Konohamaru apologized, getting our attention off me trying to spray more wounds that would sting and Naruto trying to fight me off. "It's because I am the grandson of the hokage."

I straightened up, fixing my twisted shirt, "I know the feeling. I've barely been here for a week and everyone keeps trying to suck up to me just because I'm the only heiress of a nearly dead clan that I barely knew about before I showed up."

"Nah, let's not worry about that." Naruto decided, standing up himself from where we had been practically rolling around in the grass. "Now, I'm prepared you so now let's learn the sexy jutsu." He held up a thumbs up, ignoring the black eye that had already formed. Saying his favorite catch phrase, he said, "Believe it, you're just going to need to practice."

"Practice, right boss!" Konohamaru agreed with a renewed light shining brightly in his eyes. Who knows, maybe this kid would actually get it before the sun went down.

Naruto started to coach him, "Now, the trick is to get all of the curves in the right place, you ready?"

"I'm ready boss, transformed!" in a puff of smoke, he transformed into a large fatter than an Akimichi with big pink underwear and a sports bra. "What do you think?" his voice was deeper, like a middle-aged man than a teenage girl.

"No, you got to make her skinnier!" Naruto shouted. I sighed and sat down against a log to watch. We may be here for a while I thought as Konohamaru transformed into an impossibly thin girl that looked thinner than a stick.

"No, curvier!" Naruto barked and Konohamaru tried. At least this time he had a bigger chest but it looked out of place on the still super skinny body. Naruto screamed in frustration.

After what seemed like hours since the sun was going down, the boys finally took a break, sitting down on the log on either side of me after getting drinks from a nearby machine. I sipped my own drink, gently pulling the blades of grass out of the ground I sat on. The grass was fascinating and always a soft leafy green. I had a right to be fascinated considering I grew up in a dessert. To think, I could have lived here my entire life. But then again, I never would have met Gaara and who knows what craziness he would go on with.

"So what's up with this obsession you got with your grandfather?" Naruto decided to question at that moment. I looked up curiously, that was a good question after all.

Konohamaru looked surprised at the sudden question and then looked depressed as if he was just remembering why he does the things he does, "My grandfather named me Konohamaru after the ancient name of the village." Konohamaru explained. "So it should be easy to remember. But no one calls me that name, not one person in the whole village. That's because when they look at me, they don't really see me. All they see is the 'honorable grandson of the honorable third hokage'. No one knows who I am. I can't stand it anymore. It's like I'm invisible, like I don't exist. I hate that. That's the reason I've got to become hokage now so people know who I am." His hands started to shake with surpassed anger.

Naruto scoffed, "Get real, you think people will accept a squirt like you? A kid just can't turn into a hokage after a day or two."

"What?!" Konohamaru wailed, standing up with angry clenched fists.

"He does have a point," I muttered, biting on my thumbnail. Although Naruto was harsh, his words did ring truth in them.

Naruto continued, uncaring of Konohamaru's rising anger, "It's not that simple. You keep saying hokage, hokage. To really be a hokage, you know what you'll have to do?" what would his answer be about this time.

"What, what is it?" Konohamaru asked, mentally preparing himself for whatever the blondes answer should be.

Naruto grinned tauntingly, making me suppress a shiver sneaking down my spine, "You have to defeat me in battle!" he announced.

I noticed Konohamaru's jaw tightened.

On the hokage roof staring at the hokage monument of the four stone faces stood the third hokage, looking at the fourth's face. Iruka suddenly appeared behind him, "Hokage! I've been looking for you."

"For what purpose?" Hokage-sama questioned, not bothering to look back at Iruka-sensei.

Iruka started, "It's about Naruto. Did he readmit his ninja ID Photo? You know, I gave him and Serene Uchiha a big lecture the other night at the ramen place. But Naruto is still beaming from being a genin, a ninja trainee, and Serene wasn't too far behind. Naruto thinks this is going to change things. That people will stop looking down at him."

The hokage sighed, looking surprisingly sad for the leader of a village, "I feel that his dream will not come true." Iruka looked surprised. "People don't change that easily. The nine tailed fox is within him. Not everyone knows that of course, only those who fought the beast twelve years ago. I decreed no one could speak of this. Even those who whispered it were severely punished. It was relieving that Serene is one of the few that managed to accept him. So the children of today know nothing of Naruto's connection to the beast that ravaged our village and nearly destroyed us all. As long as the children of today are unaware of this Naruto has some hope of being accepted. That was the wish of the fourth hokage. Before he risked himself to save us, he asked when Naruto grew up that he should be regarded as a hero."

"A hero?" Iruka asked surprised.

"By the hokage defeating the fox by sealing the fox into a newborn baby whose umbilical cord had just been cut, by containing the fox spirit inside its tiny body, Naruto saved the village. That's why he's a hero. Unfortunately, many of the villagers don't understand this. People are driven by fear and many believe the beast can take over Naruto's body. Some think he is the beast now and their children feel their fear and hatred so they turn against Naruto as well. You know what the ancients said about such things, Iruka?"

"What's that sir?"

"When the people reject someone's very existence and look at that person, their eyes become cold, cold as an ice storm in the deepest winter."

In the woods, "I found you!" my head snapped up as Ebisu's eyes landed on Naruto. My eyes narrowed when I saw through his sunglasses, the dark icy look in his eyes and I climbed off the ground. Something told me this man wasn't all that great. Ebisu jumped down out of the trees and to our level. "Honorable grandson, time to go home." I tensed, ready in case there was a fight. You never know, after all, Mizuki had been a teacher and he attacked us.

"No way!" Konohamaru wailed, loudly protesting. "I'm learning how to beat my grandfather so I can get the title hokage. Now don't get in my way!" he finished loudly.

Ebisu scoffed and stated, "A hokage is more than just a fighter. He must know virtue, honor, wisdom, and he must be skilled at a thousand jutsu. You don't even know one jutsu.

To prove him wrong, Konohamaru put his hands together and used the jutsu Naruto has been teaching him all day. This time, for the first time, he got it perfectly right. In his place not stood a pretty petite sixteen year old petite woman with long messy but stylish brown hair, winking innocently. 'Her' arms were tucked behind her head smirking, smoke covered certain female issues. "Hi there, like my jutsu?" she asked in a light feminine voice. Ebisu screamed, gaping in shock with his cheeks darkening red. Well what do you know, look like someone could resist the power of a beautiful naked teenage woman, even if that woman was actually an eight year old boy. Konohamaru transformed back, pouting, "Awww, he's not defeated.

"What-what-WHAT KIND OF SCANDALOUS TECHNIQUE IS THAT!" Ebisu wailed.

"What's it matter, at least it does the job." I scowled. I admit it was a perverted jutsu but some people shouldn't just toss it aside because it was perverted. At least he didn't transform into someone else he actually knew and was running around after ditching those clothes.

"Such tasteless vulgarity could never influence me!" Ebisu wailed all superior. "I am far above it." he started pulling on Konohamaru's scarf, trying to pull him along but Konohamaru was clearly resisting by digging his heels into the ground. "Honorable grandson, stop this right now!"

"The kid obviously doesn't want to go with you." I said angrily, putting my hands perched on my hips.

Ebisu continued, "Naruto is transforming you into a delinquent! I thought being around one of the elite heirs would be a good thing but I cannot believe she would voluntarily hang out with such riffraff!" I gapped at him, he did not just say what I think he said. I was perfectly within my rights to hang out with exactly who I wanted. I was about ready to spear this guy with one of my kunai's. "Only my training could put you onto the fast track to becoming a hokage."

"Just leave me alone!" Konohamaru wailed, waving his childlike arms around.

Behind me, "Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto shouted, creating at least thirty other Naruto's. What was he planning? Whatever it was, it would surely be amusing so I stepped back to watch the show. What could Ebisu do against thirty Naruto's anyway, at least he never had to worry about being outnumbered, that was for sure.

Ebisu adjusted his sunglasses, letting a gaping Konohamaru go, "I am not impressed. I am a jounin, an elite ninja warrior, I am not some lightweight like Mizuki." Frankly, I failed to see the difference. "Watch how a real ninja beats an upstart." He purposely walked right into the center of the group of Naruto's.

Then Naruto did something different and unexpected, "Transform!" All of the Naruto's suddenly turned into the big breasted teenaged female Naruto's, clinging and squealing onto every part of Ebisu. I snorted because that seemed to work. Ebisu screamed, passing out from the blood loss he had from his bleeding nose.

Naruto turned back into one of himself smirking, "I got you with my harem jutsu."

We ignored him as the sun started to go down, "Aww man! I can't even beat that snobby trainer of mine." Konohamaru wailed, clenching his fists.

"What do you expect kid, you're barely in the academy." I said.

"But why can't I do it?" Konohamaru whined. "I want to be hokage so bad but I keep messing up."

Naruto took this up, "You really think it's that easy? To be a hokage, you have to be the greatest of all ninja. You have to prove yourself to get everyone else to believe in you. Look at me; I've been through a lot already." As he spoke, I started getting lost in memories.

"I've been ignored,"

_"Hey, can I join?" four year old me asked a group of six year old boys about to play ball._

_ "Come on guys, let's go!" one of the guys exclaimed, clearly not listening to me._

"-Pushed around,"

_"You're nothing but a loser," my roommate at the orphanage gave a high pitch laugh._

_ "Get off of me." A seven year old me protested, trying to rip my arms from our other two roommates holding me there._

"-And treated like I have the plague or something."

_"Did you hear what happened?" a whisper reached my twelve year old ears._

_ "Yeah, she completely spooked out what of our jounin."_

_ "I heard she tried to kill him for no reason." They turned their backs to me, but I held my head high, eyes hidden by my hair as I followed Baki out of the village to Konoha._

"-And after all that, I've found one person who believes in me."

_"Come on Gaara, I'm so hot, it never rains here." Nine year old me whined. Gaara's response was his sand coming up behind me and dumping a cup of water on my head._

"-To find that one person, I've had to get knocked down a lot. So you better make sure you're ready."

"Ready for what?" Konohamaru asked.


	5. Friends or Foes

Friends or Foes:

"For what?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruto's answer was surprisingly wise, "For a lot of sweat and tears while you're learning to be a ninja." The sudden wind rustled the trees and my hair swirled around my face. Naruto looked back at us over his shoulder grinning, "By the way, there is no easy way to becoming hokage, believe it."

My cheeks dusted in pink, when did Naruto began to look so…I trailed off in thought.

Konohamaru turned serious as he came to a decision and turned away with a scoff, "Ha! Who are you to think you can give me a big lecture like that? That's it, I'm not going to be your apprentice anymore and since I'm not, I don't need a supervisor. From now on, we're rivals!" Konohamaru grinned and my lip twitched upward. He was a cute kid, maybe he'd make something out of himself someday.

Naruto smiled down at the kid, "Well I can't be your trainer anyway because tomorrow, I begin my advance ninja studies. But I accept your challenge and someday, we'll challenge each other for the title of Lord Hokage. So let's both look forward to that day…Konohamaru." Naruto started to walk away, one hand in his pocket as he raised his second hand over his head in goodbye. I saw clear respect in Konohamaru's eyes as he straightened up and saluted the blond as he walked away.

Naruto stopped and turned back, "Aren't you coming, Serene?" he asked, wind rustled his hair.

"Uh…coming Naruto-kun!" I skipped over to where he was, following behind as we left, hands tucked behind my back. Finally, cheeks darkening, I allowed myself to finish my earlier thought. When did Naruto become so…_cool!_

In the Hokage office, he smiled into his crystal ball, seeing the three go their separate ways, _"Finally, he at last had started down the path of a true ninja. And Serene probably had something to do with that."_

Not Sasuke, I can't stand him. Why do I have to be in his group? Sakura keeps calling his name, Sasuke, Sasuke. She won't even look at me. Hey, I know! I'll play a trick on him and fake him out. Hey, Sasuke, let's see what Sakura thinks of you after that.

The next morning, "Serene, of all days you decide to sleep in?" Sasuke scowled, yanking the covers off my body. I blindly reached for my blanket. "Get up!" he pulled the pillow out from under my head.

"I'm up, you don't have to be so forceful." I scowled, but rolling out of bed and easily landing on my feet.

"Then next time, you should get up when I call for you. Next time, I'll get a water bucket and dump it on you," Sasuke-nii said, closing the door behind him as he left.

"You wouldn't!" I shouted after him, half nervous that he wound but quickly getting dressed in a hurry. I wore my black shorts, ninja sandals and a long sleeve light blue shirt with the Uchiha crest on the back.

"Breakfast," Sasuke casually held up a plate of hotcakes as he strapped on his sandal.

"Thanks," I muttered, still worried about that water bucket comment before eagerly digging into my breakfast, casually adjusting the headband strapped to my forehead.

Within record time, we made it to the academy. I was scowling the whole way when I realized we hadn't been late at all. Sasuke just smirked at me, making me want to very much hit him. I sat in my seat next to him, crossing my arms pouting.

Then I saw the perfect opportunity to get him back, "Naru-kun, sit over here!" I exclaimed, raising my arm when I saw him walk in, headband gleaming on his forehead, making his hair all spiky. His face lit up when he saw me.

"Naru-kun?" Sasuke demanded.

"Yes, my newest friend." I smirked, ignoring his glare. His glare never affected me, I got many glares when I was friends with Gaara much worse than that.

"Sere-Chan." Naruto grinned, taking his place beside me as I scooted over. All three of us were able to sit in the usual two seater bench easily.

Our conversation was interrupted before we could even begin when new genin student Shikamaru Naru was passing, looking surprised, "What are you doing here Naruto? This place isn't for dropouts, you can't be here unless you graduate."

"Shikamaru, use your brain, what does this look like?" I asked, tapping the forehead strapped to Naruto's head.

"Right, right!" Naruto agreed, jabbing his thumb at it. "Didn't you see this? It's a regulation headband. We're going to be training together, how do you like that?" he said proudly. Shikamaru scoffed, obviously wondering how the 'dobe' managed to pass after all. "Let me put it this way, I look great in this headband, like it was made for me, believe it!" for some reason I didn't understand, I found it very hard to argue with that fact.

The door suddenly burst open and Sakura and Ino forced themselves through the door at the same time. "I'm first!" both girls exclaimed. Were they in a race or something? It seems like it since both were breathing hard like they've ran a marathon or something.

"I won again, Sakura?" Ino smirked, it looked identical to me.

Sakura scoffed, smirking, "Give it up, I had to look back at you. My toe was at least half an inch ahead of yours." Was she serious?

"Have you always been this delusional?" Ino said. I think they were both delusional. I noticed Naruto had a goofy grin and was blushing, looking at the only pinkette of the class. I scowled and slapped him over the head. He couldn't like that she-devil gold digger who only wanted to be the girlfriend of a clan heir and most popular boy in school. That boy wasn't Naruto but my own brother.

"What was that for?" Naruto wailed, rubbing the back of his head where I hit him.

I shook my head and blew a strand of hair from my face, "Completely clueless to a woman." Sakura wasn't much of a woman anyway, more like a little girl with a petty crush. She would probably be someone I could be friends with…if only she wasn't a complete squealing fangirl that gave me a headache with her squealing.

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked but I didn't bother to answer him since he was too busy standing up to meet with the pinkette currently running over. "Hey Sakura, what's up?"

Sakura gave him an angry scowl, "Move it, Naruto!", shoving him out of the way to the floor. She suddenly turned bashful, "Uh…good morning Sasuke…Serene." She knew better then to try pushing me out of the way. I wouldn't take that plus it wouldn't do well to get on Sasuke's bad side which is exactly what would happen if you bully his sister. Sasuke looked at her clearly annoyed and I scowled, eyes narrowed. "Mind if I sit next to you?"

"Yes, I do," my scowl deepened.

Then Ino showed up, grasping Sakura by her arm, "That's because she wants me to sit next to them." As if. Then all the girls in class except for me and that shy girl, Hinata, started arguing over the seat despite it would be a tight squeeze with four of us. I wasn't bumping Naruto off for one of these prissy girls. They were the shame of kouinichi everywhere and just giving us a bad name with their fan girl squealing.

In the hokage office, the hokage and jounin instructors were watching the classroom of possible genin from the hokage's crystal ball. "Most promising students, Sasuke and Serene Uchiha, is that them?" Asuma, one of the jounin, asked. The crystal focused on the pair of twins sitting next to each other. Sasuke was looking annoyed and Serene was scowling darkly.

"Yes, they're the ones." Hokage answered.

"They're the only survivors left of the Uchiha Clan, although Serene wasn't actually here when the tragedy happened." A female jounin, Kurenai stated.

"That's right." Hokage-sama nodded as the crystal ball vision moved to between the desk where Naruto was sprawled out across the ground.

"Naruto Uzumaki." A silver haired jounin, Kakashi, muttered, looking at the blonde boy.

In the classroom, Naruto's great idea was to jump on the desk kneeling and glaring at Sasuke who looked back scowling. "Naruto! Star glaring at Sasuke!" Sakura wailed.

"Seriously though, what are you planning to do?" I sighed. Only Naruto would just into something without an actual plan. The two started glaring each other down and I blinked, I could practically see lightning going between them while I turned the screaming girls out.

Then someone hit Naruto from behind and my eyes widened. My jaw dropped a little and I just gapped at the scene that happened. The girls quieted down, all staring in disbelief and confusion at what just occurred. When the boy had bumped into Naruto behind, it caused Naruto to fall forward onto Sasuke. That wasn't the problem though.

Naruto and Sasuke were…kissing. Naruto's lips had landed straight on Sasuke's lips. Both had wide eyed looks of horror and shock etched on their faces. It would have been funny had I not been so shocked at what occurred, especially since the two hated each other.

Finally, both boys flew apart coughing, sputtering, and choking clutching their throats. As if it was the worst thing that ever happened in their lives. And seeing the way they acted like to each other normally, it wouldn't be surprising if it was.

Then the killer intent shot up and every girl in class suddenly wanted to kill Naruto.

A few minutes later after everyone settled down, our small bench found it forcing four people into the seats. Sasuke, than me, then Sakura, then Naruto who was sorely beaten up and pouting. Iruka stood in front the class, having used this 'big head jutsu' that all ninja teachers seemed to know to shut their classes up. Iruka started his speech, "Today, you are all ninja's. To get here, you had to face dangerous hardships and trials but it's not the end. What comes next will be far more difficult. You will be separated into teams of three. Since we had a late comer unbalancing our numbers," he looked at me. "One team will have four. Each team will be led by a jounin instructor, an elite ninja." Everyone looked surprised but I just looked confused. Wasn't that common knowledge? I mean, it was pretty much required and taught from the beginning in Suna that we would eventually be on teams and have to 'work together'. Not that most ninja's actually liked each other, you just got randomly selected together for missions.

That Ino girl in the row behind us smirked, "Well someone has to be in Sasuke's group, I wonder who?" I scowled, I hoped whatever team Sasuke or I was on held neither girl. But knowing my luck I would end up with both.

"I don't know," Sakura glared, clearing wanting to be on Sasuke's squad the most. I, personally, did not want to be separated from my new found brother since we would most likely be pulled away on different missions.

Iruka continued, "We want each squad to be a balance of skills and abilities. That's how we set them up." Iruka looked down at the handful of papers he held that would give us the groups we would become part of. Hopefully our so call 'squads' would be more closer than in Suna where you only worked together and never talked or liked one another. "I will now announce the squads." He went through each team, three to each. Finally, "Squad seven, Naruto Uzumaki, Serene Uchiha,"

"Alright!" Naruto and I cheered, clapping a high five over a scowling Sakura's head.

"Sakura Haruna,"

"Yay!" Naruto stood excited, hands in the air.

"I'm doomed," Sakura moaned, dropping his head.

"Why her," I groaned, slapping a hand to my forehead.

"And Sasuke Uchiha,"

"Yay!" Sakura cheered.

"I'm doomed," Naruto dropped his head.

I put my hand on my chin, "Well, two out of three on my squad isn't so bad. It had to be a fangirl though, seriously?"

Iruka continued with the squads, "Squad eight, Hinata Hyuuga," the shy blind looking girl that wasn't actually blind. "Kiba Inuzuka," the boy with the dog. "Shino Abruma," the boy that never talked with sunglasses.

"How did you get into his group?" Ino sneered. I rolled my eyes and muttered under my breath, it amazed me about the sheer stupidity some girls could actually have.

"I don't get it, what do you see in a guy like that? He's not so special." Shikamaru beside Ino scowled. At least someone wasn't mooning over my brother. Then again, he wasn't exactly a girl either.

"You're so clueless Shikamaru, don't you get it?" Ino glared. I muttered under my breath.

"No, I don't get it, because I'm not a girl." Shikamaru glared. He had a point, I didn't see why everyone was all ga-ga, it wasn't like Sasuke ever talked to anyone besides me and calling Naruto a loser.

Ino declared, "You're so full of it. Jealousy is a terrible thing. I'd hate to be on your squad." Famous last words."

"Now squad ten; Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Naru," now that was just ironic. "And Chouji Ackimichi." This boy who was eating chip after chip, bag after bag, in the front row. "Those are all the squads."

Naruto decided to argue about it, he stood and pointed at Sasuke over our heads. "Iruka-sensei, why does a great ninja like me have to be on the same squad with a slug like Sasuke.

Iruka put his hands on his hips, "Sasuke has the best scores of all the graduating students, Naruto, you had the worse scores." Most of the class laughed. School sure wasn't Naruto's strong point but…I still think he can become a pretty good ninja with determination. "To create a balanced group, we put the best student with the worst student."

That made me want to question things, "Iruka-sensei, if the teams are balanced then why did you put two Uchiha's together?"

"Because, both of you have just been reunited and can help each other with the sharigan, thus making you're stronger ninja's." Iruka announced.

Naruto scowled and Sasuke egged it on, "Just be sure you don't get in my way, loser."

"Hey, what'd you say?!" Naruto snarled, letting his emotions get the best of him. Probably wasn't the best idea since he was supposed to be a ninja but then again he was still training, just going out on the 'shinobi road' like most of us.

"Hard of hearing?" Sasuke suggested.

"How is that helping in any way, Sasuke-nii?" I pouted and he looked back out the window, what seemed like his favorite activity in class.

Sakura instead turned on Naruto, never thinking of arguing with Sasuke-nii, "Knock it off, Naruto, sit down!" Sakura snarled. Naruto scowled as the class laughed but sat down.

Iruka got the attention of the class back on his and stated, "After lunch, you'll meet your new jounin teachers. Till then, class dismissed."

"Come along, Serene-nee," Sasuke commanded, grabbing our bag lunches and pulling me out by my wrist going into the crowd of students leaving, ignoring the giggling girls.

I opened my mouth to protest, wanting to drag him to eat lunch with Naruto. The kid didn't exactly have friends I've seen and I liked talking with him, he was interesting and funny. But then I got distracted by something else and started to giggle.

"What is it?" Sasuke-nii asked when he noticed me giggling.

"Oh nothing," I sung. Maybe I was being too upbeat since I was supposed to be a stoic Uchiha but who cares. I wasn't good enough to keep so why should I have to act like them.

"Are you going to tell me or do I have to drag it out of you?" Sasuke questioned. We reached an empty hallway where we stood leaning against the window. Sasuke passed me a rice ball and got his own as we started to eat.

I smiled, happily biting into my rice ball. He stared at me as I swallowed, I smirked with the smirk only an Uchiha could have, "That was just the first time you've ever called me…Serene-nee."

Sasuke turned away, eating his rice ball and I was positive I saw a red shine on his cheeks hidden by his hair. I giggled again, not surprising Sasuke refused to ignore it ever happening.

Before I could insist and tease him about it the way only a younger sister, even twins, could do. I was hit from behind by a sudden surprise attack. The wooden plate above the window clattered as it slammed close. "Get off me, Naruto," I grumbled. One Naruto was fighting with Sasuke trying to tie him up for whatever reason while two clones held me by my arms. I kicked one in the gut and watched it disappear in smoke. The second Naruto held my arm so I flipped over him giving him a hard jab in the back with my fist and it vanished.

By that time, Sasuke had already managed to get Naruto tied up instead with tape over his mouth. But of course, this was the unpredictable Naruto. There was a flash of smoke as the Naruto tied up transformed into a log, wrong Naruto. Sasuke was clearly surprised. Then nine Naruto's suddenly flew out of nowhere. Five of them started to attack Sasuke.

"LET ME GO, NARUTO BAKA!" I shouted as two Naruto's grabbed me by my arms and under my shoulders, struggling to pin me. The last two grabbed me by my ankles and started running with me out the back door where nobody ever hung out.

"Sorry, Serene but can't have you in the way," the four Naruto's stated as they vanished. I squealed as I was dropped, unintentionally landing in an old pond.

I scowled as I climbed out, "I'm going to kill you for that, Naruto-baka." I grumbled, squeezing my wet hair out. I walked around the building and started back to the classroom with my shoes squeaking. Sasuke probably took care of the other Naruto clones and was waiting for me.

To my surprise, I did find Sasuke but not where I expected. Sasuke-nii was leaning against a tree smirking at a blushing Sakura sitting on a bench. This was…odd…so using my awesome ninja skills, nobody noticed as I climbed under the bush by the bench so I could hear this conversation as Sasuke-nii walked over. After all, it was my duty as a sister to find out all I could about my brother's…'love affairs' if you could even call it that. "Sakura, your forehead is so wide and charming." My jaw dropped but I stayed silent. "Just kidding, that's the kind of dumb thing Naruto would say." I sighed relieved. I was thinking my big brother had suddenly went temporarily insane since he hated fangirls and Sakura was one of the biggest ones there was. I tensed as Sasuke sat down beside her I could see his back through the lines in the bench and a gap in the leafs. "I want to ask you something. Naruto, what do you think of him?"

Sakura looked ahead before saying what she wanted to say, "He knows about my feelings and purposely gets in the way." Well of course he did since he liked her so much, no matter how much that irritated me for reasons unknown. "He enjoys interfering and making me feel bad." I held back a growl. Naruto was a baka for dumping me in the water and attacking like that for whatever reason but Naruto had the biggest heart I've ever seen. "Naruto, he doesn't understand one single thing about me." but that sure doesn't stop him from trying. "He's just annoying." I admit Naruto had a big mouth and could be irritating but that wasn't enough reason to constantly down on him. "All I really want is…for you to accept me, Sasuke. That's all." I felt sick, wanting to puke. My brother being with this pink haired banshee was killing me but I couldn't leave or I'll be found out I was spying since Sasuke was a good ninja. Maybe it wouldn't be such an issue if Sakura didn't make me want to kill her nearly every time she opened her mouth.

Sasuke looked wide eyed, "You just want me to accept you?" Sasuke-nii never talked like this, was he sick?

"Yeah, that'd how feel, I'd do anything for you. It's true, I'm desperate." I think I threw up a little in my mouth. Sakura was right, she was desperate and that was just annoying. Especially since it was with my brother who always said he didn't like her. Sakura closed her eyes and leaned up to kiss him, blushing. Sasuke-nii started to go down to kiss her as well. Then Sasuke grasped his stomach and his face shifted to pain. He ran off yelling he'd be back.

"I didn't know Sasuke was so shy, maybe he needs a little time to get ready?" Sakura muttered guessing. What a dimwit, but I managed to ninja my way back to the school and around the corner where I hid under the window for the boys bathroom. Something wasn't right with Sasuke. I may not have been with him my entire life but I knew enough to know that something was seriously wrong.

"That was close, really close, I almost lost control of the jutsu." The voice shifted to the familiar voice of Naruto's. "Just when she was about to…she thinks that I'm annoying?" I bit my lip and covered my mouth. So that was really Naruto, I thought Sasuke-nii was acting funny. No wonder Naruto attacked us, so he could get the chance to find out if Sakura liked him at all under the guise of Sasuke, someone she would never deny. Well, he was smart there but Sakura wouldn't admit to liking someone else when she's fangirling over Sasuke. I ninja snuck my way back into the bushes behind a clueless Sakura when I realized something. What happened to the real Sasuke? He had to be wondering around somewhere.

Before I could leave, I saw Naruto disguised as Sasuke walking past, completely ignoring Sakura. Alright, I had to stay. This was going to be too good to miss, although I was still going to kill Naruto. I may be dried now but getting wet wasn't fun, especially since he made me drop my rice ball before I could finish when he jumped us. "Sasuke, you're back! Don't be shy you bad boy." I was reminded why I hated her when I felt sick again at those words. "Are you ready now, you know, mentally prepared because I am! I mean, I am ready to go!" she stopped "Hey…wait a minute!" Sakura stuttered surprised, standing off the bench when he ignored her.

Sasuke, or Naruto, asked, "Where's Naruto or Serene?" At least he bothered mentioning me, he better mention me considering he dumped me in a pond.

Sakura looked nervous, "There you go, changing the subject ago. I'm happy you found your long lost sister but I honestly don't know why she bothers hanging out with someone like Naruto considering she could hang out with so much better people." I narrowed my eyes, Naruto was much better than her in my books. "Besides, all Naruto ever does anyway is picking fights with you. You know why he's so annoying? It's because he wasn't raised right?" what was that supposed to mean? "He doesn't have a mother or father, nobody to teach him right from wrong?" Sasuke and I didn't have parents. I mean, I never even knew them so what is that supposed to make me? "Think about it, he just does whatever comes into his head." At least he had spirit. "If I did things like Naruto, forget it! I mean, my parents would get mad and I'd be in trouble so of course I don't do it." this girl just kept getting on my nerves with each word she said. "But if you don't have parents to tell you, how would you know?" Naruto may not have parents but what should that matter, I think a big impact of how people treated him daily was a good reason for always wanting attention. "He's selfish and bratty!" my nails dug into the ground in my anger. I think that selfish and bratty was her, not Naruto of all people at all. "He's all alone!" Alone, just like I was.

"All alone, isolated." Sasuke…Naruto, stated. How could Naruto like a girl like her? Maybe this whole thing would make him see different. "It's not about your parents scolding you. You have no idea what it means to be alone."

"Why-why are you saying that?" Sakura stuttered. Even if it was the real Sasuke, I doubted he would be pleased with her words either.

"Because…" Naruto used her own words against her and for a second, I believed he actually believed it, "You're annoying." Sakura gasped, looking horrified, as if her whole world had ended as Naruto walked away.


	6. Hardest Survival Training

Hardest Survival Training:

_"Because…" Naruto used her own words against her and for a second, I believed he actually believed it, "You're annoying." Sakura gasped, looking horrified, as if her whole world had ended as Naruto walked away._

"I can't believe you are still here." I stared down at Sasuke-nii, leaning against the wall under the window we had eaten lunch at, still tied up with a bandage over his mouth. He glared at me, still fighting with his ropes. I sighed, "Yeah, yeah, hold your kunai," I muttered, bending down behind him to cut the ropes with my kunai. As soon as he was free, he pulled the bandage off his own mouth. "Had fun?"

"Oh, shut up." Sasuke glowered as we started walking. "What's been happening?"

"Oh, nothing much, Naruto just being a baka." I shrugged uncaring. No need to tell Sasuke Naruto's been practically flirting and then dissing Sakura in his body. Not like he'd ever realize it…right?

We only stopped when Naruto raced from the bathroom and skidded to a stop in front of us. "Sasuke, what are you doing here? How'd you get loose?" Naruto asked surprised. Sasuke glowered.

"He used the escape jutsu by the time I found him." I lied, might as well save nii-san's ego, or what was left of his pride.

Sasuke glanced at me but turned his sights on Naruto, "Why'd you do that? Take Serene and then transform into me?"

"I thought it'd be fun to test out my moves so I did!" Naruto announced.

"Not the only thing you've done." I muttered under my breath but the boys were too busy having an ego-check and male dominance to hear. Naruto made seven clones appeared. I went into stance and stepped out of the way as two jumped at me, hitting the ground when I wasn't there.

The other Naruto's tried to attack Sasuke but then they all stopped and grabbed their stomach. They screamed, running to the bathroom again and trying to fight all the other clones to get into the bathroom.

"What a loser, don't hang out with him." Sasuke-nii decided, pulling me away.

"I'll hang out with whoever I want to hang out with." I yawned. "But you'd think he would just undo the jutsu by now." I still heard their screaming to get into the bathroom. We reached the classroom when I heard Sakura screaming like a banshee, something about Naruto being dumb, I don't know. I didn't care as I sat down in my seat.

Not that far away, at that exact moment, in Naruto's old apartment on the other side of town, the hokage sat at his kitchen while a jounin, Kakashi Hatake stood. "So, this is where Naruto lives." Kakashi stated.

Hokage-sama nodded, "Yes, he'll be on your team along with Sakura Haruna and Sasuke and Serene of the Uchiha Clan. Good luck, you'll need it."

Kakashi picked up a left out carton of milk. "This milk is way past its expiration date." He studied the numbers on the carton and shook it, hearing the sloshing. "One sip of this and he'll be running to the bathroom all day, seems like this kid is just one big problem."

This isn't the Kakashi sensei we met yesterday, it couldn't be the same teacher who I tricked so easily! The one who came late to class? No way, I'm not giving up no matter what he throws at me! A super tough test where we'll have to defeat Kakashi sensei to pass? He won't make me go back now, believe it!

Hours later, "He's late." Naruto scowled. The four members of our team were the only ones left in the classroom, the others having already left with their new teachers in students of three. Sasuke was sitting at the desk in front of me with a bored look on his face. Sakura was leaning against the next desk with an equally bored look on her face. Naruto was looking outside the door trying to find our teacher with an annoyed look. I had no doubt I held the same look of boredom my first two teammates held, looking identical to Sasuke except with more feminine features and longer hair. I was on top of the third desk, the one in the row behind Sasuke. More like I was lying down on it with my hands folded behind my head and my ponytailed hair falling off the end, shiny new headband glinting under the classroom lights.

"Naruto, just sit down!" Sakura commanded, sounding like she was better than him. That tone always got on my nerves, nah, it was just her voice in general.

"I don't wanna!" Naruto whined.

I waved my hand dismissively, closing my eyes, "Let him have his fun, he is hyperactive." I yawned, arching my back and hearing my muscles crack in my back.

"How come our teachers the only one that's late? I'm ready to roll, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed. "The other groups already met their new teachers and took off on some adventure or something. And Iruka-sensei's gone too."

I rolled over onto my stomach and positioned myself so I didn't fall off, "Maybe our teacher got cut off in some kind of secret mission that caused him to be late." I suggested.

"What are you doing?" Sakura scowled. Naruto was currently standing on a stool and fitting an eraser into hole between the sliding door and the wall.

"I thought that much was obvious." I muttered. Sakura glared but I was thinking, it was Naruto, you should have expected he would do something.

"When he comes in after being so late, surprise!" Naruto announced happily, jumping off the stool.

"You're asking for trouble, you know you shouldn't do that." Sakura decided, trying to be a suck up.

I scowled, putting my chin in my hand, "You should just be happy it's an eraser. It's not like it's going to hurt, better than a kunai that will fly at him when the door opens due to a trick string."

Sakura blinked at me, "Can you really do that?"

I rolled my eyes, and that girl was a kunoichi, "I've seen it happen multiple times before. It's how they test our reflexes in Suna."

"But…wouldn't that hurt?" Sakura asked.

"That's the point. Then you learn to dodge quickly or check for traps first. At least it's always aimed at a non-vital spot, just a kunai in the shoulder. You learn pretty quick." I folded my arms and laid my head down.

Ssauke scoffed, "Either way, it doesn't matter. Our teacher is a jounin, an elite ninja, he wouldn't fall for an eraser."

"Yeah, Sasuke's right, you're so clueless, Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, always ready to agree with the male Uchiha. There was one thing to agree but another to agree and hold on with every word he said.

I climbed onto my knees, not able to find a good position, seeing Naruto's second lasting dishearted expression, he was my friend and I didn't like seeing that expression, even for a second before that fake smile was up where you couldn't even see his eyes, making him look like a fox. "Well, I'm sure it'll work, it'll be funny and it is his fault for being late." I decided, moving my legs so I was sitting on my bottom, my legs crossed at the ankles.

Naruto's smile changed. It was smaller, to a small grin, but you could see his eyes and this one looked real. It made me feel good that he was looking like that towards me instead of the sad expression with Sakura always harassing him.

A hand suddenly reached into the open doorway and pulled open the door. The eraser fell onto the head of a tall man. This man had spiky gravity defying silvery white hair and a single grey eye. I say single because like ninety percent of his face was cover. He had some kind of mask that covered his nose and down, disappearing into his shirt. And his leaf village headband was moved lopsided instead of around his forehead so it covered his right eye, so only his left eye showed. He wore ninja sandals, black pants, a long sleeve shirt with an unzipped jounin jacket, and fingerless black gloves with metal plates on the back. Things were tensed and quiet for a few seconds as he stared down at the eraser for a few seconds.

Naruto broke the silence by bursting out laughing, "I got him, he totally fell for it!" he exclaimed happily, pointing his finger.

I blinked, "That was surprising." I muttered. The jounin actually did fall for it, how was he supposed to teach us if he fell for a genin trick from the technical 'dead-last' of the class. Although I still didn't know how someone could be dead-last considering he could hide from chunin and jounin as an academy student, considering how we met.

Skurua being the suck up that she was started to apologize, "I'm sorry sensei, I told him not to do it but he wouldn't listen! I'd never do anything like that."

The teacher slowly bent down and everyone watched him expectedly as he stood, eraser in hand and stared at them, he put his other hand to his chin thinking, "Hmmm, how can I put this? My first impression of this group…you're a bunch of idiots." All of our faces dropped, wow, that was a huge ego bruiser blow.

We were led onto the roof as the new Team Seven. Our teacher leaned against the rail surrounding the rooftop while us students sat on the stairs. Sakura sat on my left and Naruto on my right. I sat at the bottom of the stairs, leaning against one of Sasuke's legs who sat at the top. The teacher looked bored against the rail and said in an equally bored voice, "Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves, one at a time?"

He wanted us to introduce ourselves? Shouldn't he know about us from his files or something, did you get files on your new genin team? "Well…what are we supposed to say?" Sakura questioned.

The teacher stated, "Things you like, things you hate. Dreams for the future, hobbies, things like that." That couldn't be too hard, it seemed simple.

"Why don't you start?" Naruto questioned. "I mean; tell us about you first so we can see how it's supposed to work."

The teacher pointed at himself, "Me? I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate? I don't feel like telling you that." I blinked confused. "My dreams for the future…never thought about it?" what kind of answer was that? "As for hobbies…I have lots of hobbies." That was horrible answers.

Sakura scowled, "That was totally useless; all he really told us was his name."

"For once, we agree on something." I scowled, putting my elbow on my knee, hoping Sasuke wouldn't move or I would fall over since I was using his leg for my prop.

"Ok, you're turn. You on the right, you're first."Kakashi decided. He crossed his arms and nodded at Naruto.

Naruto adjusted his headband with a look of clear excitement, "Believe it, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like my new friend Serene-chan, and I like instant ramen in a cup and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiruka noodle shop." At least I was in before his ramen addiction. "But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after putting the water in the noodle cup. My hobbies are eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them. And my future dream is…to be the greatest hokage!" my mouth twitched into a smile, only Naruto. "Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody, somebody important!"

Kakashi thought, _"He's grown up in a very interesting way." _Kakashi said, "Alright, next!"

Sakura said cheerfully, making me mentally groan at the high pitched voice, "I'm Sakura Haruna! What I like I mean…" she glanced at Sasuke and I scowled. "Uh, my hobby is…becoming friends with Sere-chan!" she changed it at the last minute from giggling over Sasuke.

"Never call me that," I muttered, knowing she only wanted to be her friend to become close to Sasuke. At least she knew Naruto wanted to be her friend. After all, he hated Sasuke.

"My dream for the future is…" Sakura stopped to squeal loudly, seriously hurting my ears. Made me wonder how a human konuichi manage to go high pitch like that was something I would never understand nor know.

"And, what do you hate?" Kakashi questioned.

"NARUTO!" Sakura declared and Naruto wailed. I groaned again, stupid girl. It was amazing Naruto hadn't offed himself with this kind of abuse every day, nor was he all sullen compared to Gaara-kun who was always depressed from the multiple assassination attempts and abuse he suffered for twelve years, both boys did have demons and equally treated horribly.

Kakashi thought, _"Girls her age are more interested in boys then in ninja training."_ Kakashi decided, "Last male,"

Sasuke took up his turn, his elbows on his legs with his chin on his interlocked hands. I straightened up to turn and look at him. Sasuke said in a dark voice that would have made me freak out, had he not been my brother and I lived with him. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything." Sakura looked surprised but I wasn't. I scowled at him though. "But I do tolerate my sister." I pouted and crossed my arms, he was so lucky I didn't hit him. "What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain somebody." When he was finished, everybody was staring at him in silence with different thoughts running through their minds.

Naruto nervously thought, _"Geez, I hope he doesn't mean me."_

Sakura blushing thought, _"Sasuke is so…hot!"_

I pouting said, _"Stupid brothers…I should hit him later for 'tolerating me'._

Kakashi thought, _"Just as I thought."_ Kakashi said, "Alright, last one girl."

I turned around and straightened my back, "Alright, my name is Serene Uchiha. I like training, my brother and Naru-kun. I hate screaming banshee's, people who bully others, and those that act as if they're better than everyone else. My goal is to advance in my sharigan and my dream is to be the strongest ninja I can be. I don't want to be hokage but I do want to be really high up."

Naruto thought, _"Wow, she mentioned me, she really is a friend."_

Sasuke thought, _"I still can't believe she actually wants to be around that loser."_

Sakura thought glaring, _"She better not be calling me a banshee again."_

Kakashi thought, _"At least one female seems interested in being an actual ninja." _Kakashi nodded and said, "Good, you're all unique and you all have your own ideas. You'll have you first mission tomorrow." My mouth twitched happily to grin. An actual mission means helping people and getting money. I still wasn't used to the Uchiha fortune considering my less then poor upbringing. This way, I could use my own money I worked for instead of the family's money considering the family didn't even want me because I was a little too…feminine for their taste, I guess I would say.

"What kind of mission are we going to have?" Naruto asking, possible sounding more excited then I felt.

"It's a task that the four of us will do together." Kakashi stated.

"What? What? Wh-ughh?" I covered his mouth with the palm of my hand, not even looking at him as I did so, so h would stop talking.

Kakashi said, "A survival exercise."

Naruto grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand from his mouth, "Survival exercise?"

"I thought we were going to have a real mission, not more practice." Sakura complained.

"If you think it'll help get me stronger." I decided. I had to train to get stronger after all, we would get missions in time.

Sakura complained, "But we already did this stuff in the academy, that's how we got here!" like he didn't already know this.

"This will not be like your previous training." Kakashi explained. Good, that meant we would get stronger then the leaf academy training. Sand academy was clearly more advance, or was just harder considering I did a few things they didn't teach until after you become a genin.

"So um…what kind of training is it then?" Naurto asked and I looked up curiously, blowing tufts of bangs and loose hair hanging lightly from my eyes. Kakashi started to chuckle and I tensed, that didn't sound good.

"Hey hold on, that's a normal question, what's so funny?" Sakura questioned.

"I don't see how anything is funny," I scowled, looking like a Uchiha.

Kakashi sung really creepy like, "Well, if I told the answer, you're not going to liiikkkkeeee it,"

"Well tell us anyway, we deserve to know if it affects us." I insisted.

Kakashi nodded and explained, "Of the twenty eighth graduates that came here, only nine or in this case with our new student Serene, possibly ten, will be accepted as genin. The other eighteen or nineteen will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it pass/fail test. And the chace you'll pass is at least sixty six percent." Naruto, Sakura and I shared identical looks of horror. Sasuke's eye twitched and his eyes held panic before he went back into his Uchiha state that hid all emotions. "See? Didn't I tell you you wouldn't like it?"

"That is so not cool!" my eyes widened as I bit my lip.

"We worked hard to get here, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed, screaming loud although it didn't give me a headache like Sakura's loud voice did. "What was the graduation test for anyway?" he had a good point.

"That was just to select candidates that 'might' become genin, or not." Kakashi said, almost proud for the trick. Naruto wailed while I crossed my arms angrily. Should have known there was some kind of trick, nothing was that easy like that test was. "That's how it is, I decide if you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at five AM. And bring your ninja gear.

Naruto thought, _"Well I'm not going to be weeded out. People are going to look up to me someday I've got to pass this test, believe it. BELIEVE IT!"_

Sakura thought, _"If I fail, I'll be separated from Sasuke. This is a trial of love!"_

I thought narrowing my eyes in a very familiar Uchiha fashion, _"I don't care what it takes. I will become a genin for the hidden leaf village. I know I can do it, I'm a Uchiha after all." _Sasuke's mind was blank although his hands were clenched together and slightly shaking in suppressed anger.

Kakashi turned his back to us and waved a hand over his head, "That's it, you're dismissed. Oh yeah, tomorrow, you'd better skip breakfast or else…you'll puke." Sakura and Naruto's eyes opened wide, mine widened a small but and Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

The next morning, "I almost have it. Just a few more tries and I'll get that fire jutsu." I yawned. I was up an hour earlier still practicing that jutsu Sasuke was teaching me. Apparently you were considered an adult in the Uchiha family after getting the sharigan and mastering the jutsu. I was so close to doing it as well, I could feel it.

"I know you do," Sasuke-nii muttered. We were walking to the training ground after getting ready for the day and I stopped to take a shower to wake me up a little. Didn't help much, I was still exhausted. I had my eyes half-open flickering close every couple seconds. I was holding onto Sasuke's arm so I could half-sleep while he guided me to the training ground. We reached it when the clock struck five, when Sakura and Naruto had as well all coming from different directions. Sasuke was surprisingly awake, if he was sleepy he certainly didn't show it. Sakura was yawning and Naruto was half-stumbling with an arm outstretched and eyes closed so he wouldn't hit something. We each held a different colored huge bag on our backs that we hadn't held yesterday.

We waited there for half an hour staring at each other, "You know what, wake me when he gets here." I decided. I dropped my bag onto the grass that was so unaccustomed in Suna and laid down on my back. I rested my head on my bag and pulled my headband down to hide my eyes from the slowly rising sun to get a little more rest in. Couldn't exactly do well in whatever survival exercise we were doing if I was exhausted, we all were but that was the price of being a ninja. Some missions may require lack of sleep, at least the hire ones. Probably nothing we'll do as genin.

I don't know how much time had passed when I fell asleep but I did feel better since I rested a few extra hours. The sun was very high in the sky when Kakashi suddenly arrived. I awoke to Sakura and Naruto screaming, "You're late."

Rightfully assuming it was Kakashi, I yawned and stretched my arms over my head, arching my back. Then I stood up and pushed my headband till it was back on my forehead and sleepily rubbing my eyes from the wakeup call.

Do you really want to know what Kakashi-sensei's great excuse to being like, three hours late, was? "Well, a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way." He said cheerfully, as if this was an everyday thing, I really hope not.

All four of us glared at him and I put my hands low on my hips, "Either way, going the long way shouldn't make you hours late." I scowled deeply.

"Well anyway, let's get started." Kakashi started right off. He reached into his bag and walked over to the three training posts sticking out of the ground side by side. He dropped his bag beside him and put an old alarm clock on top of the middle post. The time read that it was about ten o'clock so he was four hours late? My scowl deepened as he hit the button, setting the clock to go off at a much later time. "Here we go, its set for noon." That gave us at least two hours for whatever was planned. He held up two identical silver bells, each held by a small piece of red string. "You're assignment is very simple. You just have to take these bells from me. that's all there is to it. if you can't get to them before noon, you go without lunch." Naruto wailed and I clenched my jaw. "You will be tied to those posts while I eat my lunch in front of you."

Like something weird, all four of our stomachs growled and it didn't take a genius to figure out we all looked miserable and hungry. At least now we knew why we weren't supposed to eat breakfast and it was clear none of us did. Maybe I should have packed an energy bar instead of eating the last one in my pack for a midnight snack last night.

"Wait a minute," Sakura seemed to be the first to notice something we previously hadn't noticed before. "There's four of us! How come there's only two bells."

Kakashi grinned, I think he was grinning because he did this funny thing with his eyes that involved closing it so it somehow looked like he was smiling. He said a little happily for my comfort, "Well that way, at least two of you will be tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing the mission. Those two goes back to the academy." My eyes narrowed in determination as I clenched my fists and although I wasn't looking at my 'teammates' I had a feeling of knowing that they all looked the same.

Kakashi continued, "Then again, all four of you could flunk out too. You can use any weapon including shuriken. If you aren't prepared to kill me, you won't be able to get the bells." I smirked pleased and rolled my shoulders. I had a collection of shuriken and kunai in my waist pack. I had to pay him back. After all, he did make me get up so early for my practice training and then show up here when he was later than anything himself. I was all too ready to use him as a target practice board. There are just some things you shouldn't do and two of them is making a girl get up so early, and then standing her up.

He would be lucky if I didn't kill him, even if I did get a few hours extra sleep since I took that nap when he refused to show up. I didn't care if he was a jounin.

"Those weapons are too dangerous-sensei!" Sakura protested.

I shushed her, "Shhhh, don't try changing his mind!"

"But he couldn't even dodge that eraser, this is going to be so easy!" Naruto crackled with laughter and I narrowed my eyes. That's right, a jounin instructor got hit by an eraser from a just finished academy student. Was he trying to pull a fast one, make him seem weaker than he was so we wouldn't try our hardest and drop our guard?

Kakashi stated casually, "Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them, low scores, losers."

He just pushed Naruto's buttons like he knew exactly what would get them riled up.

True to my thoughts, Naruto angrily pulled out a kunai, spinning it around his finger and running at Kakashi.


	7. Our First Lesson of the Shinobi World

GUESS WHAT?! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME SO I'M DOING A LONGER CHAPTER FOR THIS OCCASION

ON WITH THE STORY

Our First Lesson of the Shinobi World:

I gasped, my eyes widening a touch. It happened in a blink of an eye, that was all I did. Before, Naruto was running at Kakashi-sensei with a kunai. But now…one blink and it changed. Kakashi now stood behind Naruto, pinning him. He had one hand on Naruto's head so he wouldn't move. The hand holding the kunai, Kakashi pulled behind Naruto's head so the kunai was inches from penetrating the back of Naruto's head. "Don't be in such a hurry, I didn't say start yet." Kakashi said almost too casually, like it wasn't even slightly difficult to do so.

I didn't think when I took a step back, tensing. Kakashi let Naruto go and he stumbled but didn't fall.

Sakura thought, _"He's so fast, I didn't even see it."_

Sasuke thought, _"So he 'is' a jounin.'_

I thought, _"I hope Naruto's alright. He is my first friend here in Konoha."_

Kakashi continued, "But you came at me with the full intent on destroying me so…" he stopped to chuckle. "How can I say this? I'm actually starting to like you guys." The corner of my mouth twitched into a half-smirk. "Get ready and…start!" us four genin's all disappeared in different directions.

In the village, Iruka-sensei and Hokage-sama sat at a table in an empty room discussing things while drinking tea. "Iruka, what is it that you wanted to see me about?" Hokage-same questioned. "I don't think you came here to drink tea with me and merely chat, did you?"

Iruka sighed but got to the point, "Naruto has been assigned to Squad Seven, so did that new friend of his, Serene. The jounin of that group…just how tough a trainer is he?"

"Kakashi, you mean. You are concerned about him?" Hokage correctly guessed.

"I am," Iruka continued. "I heard a rumor about his training methods." The hokage pulled from his robes a small easy to carry book with multiple pages. "What's this?"

"All the trainers who have ever been assigned to him, those who passed and those who failed." Hokage said.

Iruka's eyes widened with a silent gasp, "May I?" he didn't wait for an answer. He just picked up the book and flicked, flipping through the pages tell he found what he wanted. His eyes widened in shock and disbelief and absolute horror at what he found.

At the training ground, Kakashi stood looking around in an empty clearing. "Ninja's must know how to conceal their movements and hide effectively." Kakashi knew where they all were because they couldn't yet hide their charkra signatures. For example, Naruto was hiding behind a boulder but clearly wasn't going to stay there long. Sakura hid in the bushes and Sasuke was concealing his form behind branches in a tree.

Meanwhile…I just had to hide in the lake. My scowl was deep and I went for the first place I thought of. It wasn't the forest or bushes, it was in the river lake thing that was on one side of our training ground. I was hiding behind a boulder peeking between two boulders to watch what was happening. My lower part of my body, my legs and the water lapping at my hipbones, was in the river. I was shivering but I tried suppressing it, I had better things to do. Besides, it was a good thing I knew how to swim. It was required in gym during Suna Academy to be taught to swim despite it being in a dessert country. Just in case for future missions in other countries. There was a huge pool in the academy for this reason.

He was certainly the most different ninja I have ever seen. Because Naruto, being the genius he was, stepped right on up to Kakashi. "You and me, right now, fair and square!" Did Naruto have brain cells because I somehow didn't think stepping up to the 'enemy' was a ninja move. Kakashi just looked at him like he was a dimwit, not surprisingly.

Kakashi stated, "You know, compared to the others, you're a little bit…weird." He had a point, not that I was going to hold that against him.

"Oh yeah? The only thing weird here is your haircut!" Naruto insisted. Also another good point. Naruto screamed and ran at Kakashi. I tensed, nails digging into the boulder as Kakashi reached into his side pack that would normally made for weapons. Naruto jumped back, preparing himself for whatever Kakashi was planning.

"Shinobi battle techniques, part one: Taijutsu, the physical part." Kakashi said. I narrowed my eyes. Taijutsu was fighting, no weapons or jutsu's involved so…why was he reaching for something like a weapon? I blinked dumbly as Kakashi instead pulled a small book out of his bag, single fingerly flipping it to the middle. He casually started to read. What was up with the book? "What are you waiting for?" Kakashi looked bored, not looking up from his book. "Make your move."

"What? Uh…why are you reading that book?" Naruto demanded. What would Kakashi's answer be?"

"Why? So I can find out what happens in the story of course." Kakashi said in a duh voice. Of course, I leaned my head against the cold boulder, looking through the crack between boulders. "But don't let it bother you. With your weak attacks, it won't matter if I'm reading or…whatever." Naruto looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel.

"I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOU!" Naruto shouted, clenching his fists and running at him with poor Taijutsu. Naruto threw the first punch but Kakashi didn't even look up from his book as he casually grabbed the fist. Naruto threw his knee trying to hit Kakashi in the head or gut but Kakashi easily ducked low so the leg went flying over his head. Naruto threw another punch, I blinked, and Kakashi disappeared. Maybe I should just stop blinking, Kakashi always disappear when I do. Naruto just looked confused, staring at the empty space before him. Kakashi was now kneeling behind him. He had his hands around his books and folded into a hand sign. I almost rose in confusion to see better but stopped myself from giving away my position. That move…it look like a basic hand sign we were taught in the Suna Academy. What was he planning to use such a weak and basic jutsu for?

Sakura apparently thought different because her higher pitched voice shouted from the tree line, "Naruto, get out of there quick! He's going to destroy you!" She just couldn't keep quiet, could she? Did I get the hand sign wrong or did Sakura?

Kakashi's single eye seemed to glow with a sudden power and…darkness? Whatever, it creeped me out. "Leaf village style, secret finger jutsu!" Kakashi shouted. Kakashi pushed his finger up and stuck it into a very sensitive part of Naruto's body. My jaw dropped and Naruto went screaming into the river. I clung onto the rocks when the gush of water overlapped me. I sputtered and spit a mouthful out, my hair sagging around my face.

"Having trouble there?" Kakashi asked. I looked up a little nervous and saw Kakashi kneeling on the rocks above me. I blinked dumbly before snapping into action. Although slowed a little by the water soaking my clothes, I flung a leg over aiming a kick at his face but he easily blocked it. Anger coursing through me and I clenched my jaw and threw a fist as hard as I could into his face but he just used his own elbow to push me down. I ended on the dirt but I went on to a handstand and aimed a sharp kick to his chin. He grabbed my ankle and I activated my sharigan, hoping it would help out in some way. I tried creating an illusion but in the heat of battle and my recent activation since I hadn't used it since that first night…it didn't work out so well, and I was flung into the bushes. Sakura hissed as I landed on her, oops.

I scowled at her and she scooted back a little due to the vivid red my eyes were, with a black comma in it. I peeked through the bushes, scowling as I deactivated my sharigan. Might as well save my charkra.

"That's it," I decided, doing hand signs from the bushes. Horse-Tiger, I took in a deep breath, feeling the heat build-up, "Fire-release! Great fireball technique!" Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise as a giant fireball erupted from my mouth going at him. He actually had to close his book and dive out of the way, rolling before standing. I was giddy though because I finally did the technique I've been working on every morning for weeks, getting scorch marks and bruises on my body multiple times trying to master the 'right of passage' as it was known in the Uchiha family. Naruto didn't notice because he was still under the water. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise having not known about that jutsu, especially since move genin's can't do it although Sasuke learned when he was seven. And Sasuke in his tree smirked, should have known it would take a fight for her to finally get it right.

Shurikens went flying from the water where Naruto had sunk at. Kakashi having been distracted by me had to quickly but easily step sided it. I bit back a shriek and sunk to the side when the shruikens stabbed themselves into the tree trunk beside my head.

In town, "This…can't be," Iruka looked horrified. "It's even worse than the rumors!"

"Kakashi's test may be a bit more difficult than the others," hokage admitted.

"A bit more difficult?" Iruka repeated. "Not a single student has ever passed his test."

"That's true, they all tried but no one could live upto Kakashi's standards." Hokage explained. "So they were all _eliminated."_

I started crawling away from Sakura, sticking to the shadows of the tree lines. My dark hair mixed in with the branches surrounding me as I snuck up a tree, peeking through the branches as Naruto knelt on the shoreline, breathing hard after climbing from the water. "How can I fight if I'm starving to death!" Naruto wailed. I scowled as my stomach growled. How does not eating help us in anyway. If we were on an actual mission that include enemy ninja's, stomach growls and pains could easily give away your position. "I'm not going back to the academy. I will become a ninja."

My eyes widened a little at Naruto's apparent trap. He was apparently thinking ahead because seven solid Naruto clones ran from the river having been hiding in the water. It made me think back to when Naruto first got those solid clones.

_In a surprisingly dark voice, Naruto's eyes shadowed by the green goggles on his forehead, said, "If you ever lay a hand on my sensei, I'll kill you!" I could tell Naruto was extremely serious, and he probably would._

_ Mizuki just laughed, obviously not believing Naruto could be a threat but I could see he had potential, he just needed a willing teacher, "Just big words, I could easily destroy you with a single move!" he held up a fist, his guard was dropped. I could throw a kunai and he probably wouldn't even realize it till it stuck him. But…I decided to yet Naruto have his moment. He needed a confident booster after a day like this._

_ Naruto put up a hand signal, "Try it fool, I'll give it back to you a thousand fold!" he announced._

_ "Let's see you try!" Mizuki scoffed. "Show me what you can do, nine tiled fox!"_

_ "SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" Naruto shouted. I gasped, eyes widening in inch in surprise when a thousand Naruto clones, identical to the last detail, appeared in the clearing, in the trees, surrounding Mizuki and standing around us. Man, this kid had to have the most massive charkra holds I have ever seen. Especially for a twelve year old academy student. Not only that, but these weren't illusions. They were full and solid clones to the touch. If he learned this from that scroll then…this had to be an extremely advanced jutsu._

Kakashi said, "You talk like you're the best but you're still the worse student, Naruto." The Naruto's ran at Kakashi but to everyone's surprise, another Naruto nobody noticed before jumped onto Kakashi's back from behind.

"Didn't you say don't let your enemy get behind you," the Naruto on his back said mockingly with a smirk. "Good advice, sensei, believe it."

All of the other Naruto's grabbed onto his legs and waist, trying to pin him down with their weight and numbers. One Naruto went into the air, rearing back for a punch, "I had one of the clones come out of the river and sneak up behind you super quiet."

"Now this is for you nailing me in the butt earlier!" Naruto shouted, ready to punch him. The branches that hid me and also hid my grin when it seemed like Naruto might actually do something. Sasuke and Sakura had yet to do anything. I tried but Naruto was really in there, determined and desperate to get those bells…just like we all were.

"You're mine and so are those bells!" Naruto shouted. He punched and there was a splatter of blood. At the very last second, Kakashi-sensei…turned into Naruto meaning Naruto punched a clone. A replacement jutsu? All the Naruto's started fighting, thinking Kakashi transformed into a Naruto clone to trick him.

Unable to take this pathetic display, I sharply whistled, "Yo, undo the jutsu!" I shouted, dropping from the tree branch into the bushes. Then I went low and crawled into another set a few feet away, pulling my hair free when some snagged on a few thorns this set of bushes held.

Naruto undid the jutsu but there was only one Naruto left, sorely beaten up from his own clones. So it was a replacement jutsu. I went only what I knew about this jutsu. A replacement jutsu made you switch your own body with something else. The enemy will think he's attacking you but really, he'd be attacking a log or rock. I heard of people switching with another person before but those are usually cowards and weaklings who valued their own life at the risk of another. In this certain case, the jounin known as Kakashi-sensei let himself get caught on purpose so the whole time it was just an act. Then he switched bodies with one of the clones. The clone in question thought he was attacking Kakashi but was only attacking himself. I don't think any of us noticed till Naruto ended up punching Naruto and it just made him look like a moron, which was probably the plan.

Naruto, being the genius that he is, ran for a loose bell that was under a thin tree in the clearing that had apparently been knocked loose. But…something wasn't right, wouldn't a jounin be able to tie something tight enough for it not to get loose due to a possible genin's attack. Naruto reached for the bell only to scream when he got launched into the tree, hanging upside down due to a trick rope. A trap, of course it was.

Kakashi appeared under him, casually picking up the bell, "Think before you use a jutsu." He advised. "Or else your opponent might use it against you." He held the bell in hand, almost mockingly. "Oh, and if the bait is obvious, don't take it. A ninja must see through deception."

Naruto angrily waved his arms, shaking with his ankles tied to the rope hanging him upside down, "I. Get. It."

"I'm telling you because you don't get it." Kakashi said. "You think you get it which is not actually the same as getting it." Then shruiken and kunai's went flying from a tree on the other side of the field, I silently gasped as they struck Kakashi from the side, whose guard had appeared to be dropped.

"Are you out of you mind, Sasuke, Serene!" Naruto shouted, assuming it was one of us since Sakura couldn't throw and hit the exact target with every blow like we could, she's not that good a hit. "You went too far!"

"It wasn't me!" I protested, climbing up a tree to get a better look at the bleeding Kakashi.

Man, at this rate, I'm never going to beat Kakashi-sensei. But if I don't get a bell, I won't pass the test and that is not an option. He keeps saying see through deception which I would do if I had any idea what he was talking about. But I don't. So how do I get my hands on one of those bells. It might look bad, but don't count me out.

"I'm telling you because you don't get it." Kakashi said. "You think you get it which is not actually the same as getting it." Then shruiken and kunai's went flying from a tree on the other side of the field, I silently gasped as they struck Kakashi from the side, whose guard had appeared to be dropped.

"Are you out of you mind, Sasuke, Serene!" Naruto shouted, assuming it was one of us since Sakura couldn't throw and hit the exact target with every blow like we could, she's not that good a hit. "You went too far!" "It wasn't me!" I protested, climbing up a tree to get a better look at the bleeding Kakashi.

Flash of smoke and Kakashi turned into a log with Shruiken and Kunai in it. Replacement jutsu. Maybe I should find Sasuke. Knowing him, he's probably running trying to get out of wherever Kakashi was hiding so he wouldn't be found. I didn't actually know how right I was. I glanced at Naruto swinging on his rope.

Taking pity on the boy, I flicked a kunai at him. The kunai ripped through the ropes tying him up and he fell. I left to find Sasuke, not seeing Naruto as he screamed when he got flung up again by a second rope.

I started by climbing a tree and running along the branches. It was better to be above ground then stuck on the ground. Now, if I was a twelve year old male Uchiha, where would I be? Well, training would be my first guess but we're kinda in a survival thing at the moment so I don't think that would be quite it.

I stopped when I reached a tree, kneeling and settling my hand on the trunk. Below me was a clearing and Sakura was clearly panicking. What was she doing? "Sasuke!" Sakura suddenly shouted, spinning around. I leaned closer, pushing a branch out of my way, only to stare as I felt cold fear. Sasuke was on his knees half-leaning against a tree. He was covered in blood with multiple kunai sticking out his back and legs.

"Sak-Sakura, help me, please help me," Sasuke stuttered. That was the snapping point for me when I realized what was going on. I activated my sharigan, of course, nothing more than a genjutsu. No way in the seven hells would Sasuke 'ever' pled or beg for help, especially not from Sakura. He would insist he was fine and try to force himself up. Sakura's scream echoed in my ears as she fainted. I shook my head, and this girl was a kunoichi, before continuing on, uncaring of the pink haired kuoinichi. I had better things to do. Kakashi wasn't around so maybe he was with Sasuke.

I jumped to the ground and looked out only to burst out laughing. I fell over clutching my stomach with laughter. "You are not helping." Sasuke snarled, trying to break free. He was in the ground with only his head above.

"Ok, ok, I'm good." I looked at him then started laughing again, ignoring his scowl as he tried to figure out his own way to get out. I only stopped, rolling onto my stomach when Sakura ran out in the other direction. Sasuke stared at her, I stared at her, she stared at Sasuke's head. Her eyes were wide and she was frozen in place in mid-run.

"Sakura?" Sasuke chanced on asking. That was Sakura's breaking point.

"SASUKE'S JUST A HEAD WITHOUT A BODY AND HE'S TALKING!" Sakura's scream echoed and she fainted.

"…Ok, I'm so done with this." I pulled myself together and started digging Sasuke out enough til he was able to get his arms free and pull himself out. We loomed over Sakura's body, trying to wake her. "I can always slap her?" I suggested.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Somehow, I don't think you'll need to." And true, Sakura's eyes were starting to flutter open.

"Sasuke…" she said weakly, then her energy spiked up. "YOU'RE OK!" She was laughing like a giggling schoolgirl as she jumped Sasuke, trying to hug him and ignoring that Sasuke was trying to push her off.

I finally pulled her off by her waist so Sasuke could stand up. "I've got to get a bell before lunch." Sasuke said.

"If only we could find out where Kakashi's gone." I sighed. "He's probably with Naruto, he's the only one not here."

"You two are still trying to get one of those bells?" Sakura sounded surprised.

"Yeah, why wouldn't we be?" I asked. "That is what we're here for."

"Besides, last time I touched one. This time, I'll get one." Sasuke declared.

My eyes widened, "So not fair! How are we supposed to do this against a jounin?" I moaned, lightly biting my lip.

Sakura clasped her hands to her chest, sounding nervous, "That's amazing you almost got one, but Serene is so right. We can never get one from a jounin. Besides…it's almost lunch so we should probably just give up and try again next year." Both Sasuke and I had identical death glares that stunned Sakura into silence.

There was nothing but complete silence for a few moments, "Are you saying we should just give up?" I snarled. I was never a quitter, how else did I get this far in life?"

"I am the only one who can destroy that person." Sasuke whispered although was easily heard. I turned to him as the wind rustled our hair, trailing leaves past us.

"Who, you mean the sensei?" Sakura asked. I shook my head, Sasuke didn't have enough reason to be angered at the sensei, not this much anger filled in his eyes.

"That day…I was crying." Sasuke said. But that couldn't be, I've never seen Sasuke cry, not in the entire time I've been here.

"When were you crying?" Sakura asked.

"…I am an avenger and that means I must be stronger than my prey. I need this training and there is no time for setbacks." I looked at him worried, it wasn't right to have so much anger, especially in a child. _I am going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone."_

An alarm went off, echoing so everyone in the training grounds could hear it. "Times up," I muttered.

Only a few minutes later, we found Naruto tied up to the middle post with the three box lunches in front of him. Sakura sat on his right and Sasuke on his left. I leaned against the left post, sitting down as Kakashi stood in front of us. All of our stomachs growled in our hunger having missed breakfast or in Sakura's case not that I knew, breakfast and last night's dinner. "Uh oh, stomachs growling aren't they?" Kakashi seemed to take amusement in our pain. "That's too bad. Oh, by the way, about this exercise, well I've decided I won't send any of you back to the academy." Naruto looked excited, Sasuke smirked, my eyes widened surprised.

Sakura was stunned, "What? All I did was faint and fall over. Do you get points for that?" She had a point, how did any of us pass? Sakura started jumping up and down with her idiotic cheering.

Naruto got excited, kicking his legs since his upper body was tied down, "Then that means all four of us, all four of us…"

Kakashi seemed to smile, sounding pleased, "Yes, all four of you are being," his voice suddenly hardened which was surprising, "_dropped from the program __**permanently." **_Sakura was stunned, Sasuke was angered, Naruto looked horrified, and I felt all my hopes of becoming strong suddenly became crushed with no hope of reviving.

In town, Iruka looked worried, "Unbelievable. Kakashi has never passed a single student. He fails all of them!"

"Iruka, this group is young." Hokage tried to explain. "Even I cannot see if it would be good for them in the rigors and dangers of ninja life. However, Kakashi was correct about all those he failed."

At the training grounds, Naruto was panicking, "Drop us from the program! That means we can never become ninja. You said if we couldn't take the bells, we'll be sent back to the academy. You can't just change your mind and kick us out! Why would you do that!" he was a ninja, it wasn't that surprising he lied like he did.

"Because you don't think like ninja's. You think like little kids, like brats!"

"NO!" I screamed but my brother ignored me. Sasuke took off running full force at Kakashi. You think he would learn that trying something over and over again won't change the results, you have to do something different. In a flash, Kakashi had Sasuke easily pinned to the ground. Kakashi was sitting on Sasuke's back, pulling Sasuke's arm behind him and a foot on Sasuke's head, pushing his face into the ground.

"You think it's all about you." Kakashi said.

Sakura started to scream, "LET GO OF SASUKE, YOU CAN'T STEP ON HIM LIKE HE'S SOME BUG!"

"Sakura, shut up," I said, not taking my eyes off Kakashi and Sasuke as he struggled to even look up. "Shrieking will not help us at all."

"You think being a ninja's nothing but a game." Kakashi said. Naruto and Sakura looked confused but I was a little more concerned for Sasuke. He was going to have some serious bruising when all this was done. "Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you consider that question for one moment?" that got my attention, and I looked up, my eyes narrowing in confusion.

"I-I don't know what you mean." Sakura stuttered.

"I mean you never realized what this exercise was all about, not even close." Kakashi said.

"What…it's about?" Naruto asked.

"Weren't we just supposed to get the bells?" I questioned. That was the assignment, the whole point of being out here so we could become genin.

Kakashi nodded, "Yes, but that was only part of the true task I had, the part that determines if you pass or fail."

"But that's…I wanted to ask you about that from the very beginning." Sakura whispered, the beginning didn't matter. What mattered was now and our apparent failure. What was it that determined our passing or failing?

Kakashi scoffed, "Use your head, three, or in this case, four, people on a squad. Why do you think we would do that?"

"Four people…to…work together?" my brain trying to connect the dots but was feeling like I was missing something.

Kakashi nodded, "Exactly, for teamwork!" My eyes widened, that was the word I had been subconsciously looking for. And then I felt the stun set in. Out of everything there is in the world or even in this simple leaf village, that was the last thing I ever expected. We didn't practice teamwork in Suna, it was always one for themselves till they graduated and would randomly be put on missions together. "Anyway," Kakashi continued. "It's far too late. If all four of you had come at me, it may have worked. Naruto's shadow clones, Sakura's brains, Serene's sharigan, Sasuke's fireball, I'm sure you would have figured something out. But, it's over."

"Wait a minute," Sakura seemed to realize something the others, us, previous missed. "You set it up with four people but only two bells. If we worked together and got the bells, only two people could keep them. That would lead to squad conflict and the group would break up."

"That…that was the point," I realized.

"Exactly," Kakashi nodded at us. "I purposely pitted you against each other. I wanted to see if you could overcome that and put the squad ahead of yourselves." Apparently we couldn't. "A genin should have a natural feel for teamwork." Which we didn't have clearly. "But you, it never even crossed your mind." "Sakura!" he turned his glare to the pink haired member of the group. "You obsessed about Sasuke who was gone while Naruto was right in front of you and you wouldn't life a finger to help him." She had the nerve to blush. "Naruto!" Naruto turned his glare to the nervous looking blonde. "You do everything on your own, _everything." _Naruto looked away. "Serene!" I jumped when he said my name. "While it's true you did help Naruto for a moment, you did what Sakura did to Naruto and didn't lift a finger to help her when she fainted." I winched, now realizing my mistake. "And you, Sasuke," he dug his foot into Sasuke's head, pushing it harder into the ground. "Thought the others were so far beneath you, they were worthless. Arrogance, ninja missions are carried out in squads. Of course, you need individual skills but teamwork is the most essential element. Every shinobi understands this. When individuals put themselves above the squad, things can lead to failure and death. For example," I gasped in horror as he pulled out a kunai, putting it under Sasuke's throat, feeling my own throat clench up and it was hard to breathe. "Sakura, choose to kill either Naruto or Serene now or Sasuke dies!" We all panicked which is what Kakashi wanted. "That's what happens on a mission." I sighed relieved, feeling my throat relax as the kunai was removed. He spun the kunai around his finger, "The enemy takes a hostage and you have an impossible choice to make." Kakashi stood up and walked over to a large stone to the side we hadn't noticed. "On every mission, your life is on the line. Did you look at this stone?" Sasuke slowly stood. "The names on this stone, they are all ninja's who are honored as heroes in our village."

"Heroes," I muttered under my breath.

"That's it!" Narutor repeated excited. "Now I know, I've decided I'm going to have my name engraved on that stone. I'm not going to live and die like a dog!" Sasuke slowly walked over and stood beside me. "I'm going to be a hero, a hero!"

"They're a…special kind of hero." Kakashi said slowly.

"What kind of heroes are they, come on, tell us!" Naruto begged excited.

"They are all…K.I.A." my eyes widened, I knew exactly what that meant and believe me when I tell you it isn't anything good.

"That sounds cool!" Naruto exclaimed.

I swallowed hard, "Trust me…you don't want to be on the stone."

"Why not?" Naruto sounded confused.

"It means killed in action," Sakura explained. "They all died." Naruto looked surprised but then sullen and sad. I think we all felt the same as everyone lapped into silence.

"This is a memorial stone." Kakashi said, not looking at us since his attention was clearly on the stone. "The names of my closest friends are engraved here." I looked at him with pity, he must have had a difficult life. Kakashi turned to us and nodded, giving us a chance he gave to all the others although they all failed, "Alright, I'm going to give you one more chance. But I'm going to make it much haarder on you. You have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch and to build up strength but Naruto doesn't get any." Naruto clenched his jaw and I tensed. "It's your punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat by yourself. And if anyone tries to feed him, that person will immediately fail." Naruto wailed, Sakura looked hopeless, Sasuke scowled, and I clenched my fist ignoring the nails biting into my skin. Kakashi said darkly, making me wince at the dark tone, "I make the rules, you follow them, got it?"

In town, "I'm leaving." Iruka announced, standing in the doorway where he had walked after finishing his conversation with the hokage.

Hokage stopped him, "Iruka, listen to me, rather they pass or fail, you must not blame Kakashi."

Iruka sighed, dropping his head dis-hearted, "Right." He agreed unhappily.

At the training grounds, I was scowling as I forced another bite of my lunch, rice, into my mouth. I looked up with the others when Naruto's stomach started to growl. Naruto just laughed, refusing to admit his misery, "This is no big deal! I can go without eating for days, for weeks, believe it! This is no big deal…no problem!" but he looked miserable, purely miserable.

"I can't do this!" I exclaimed, slamming my lunch onto the ground.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sakura asked, trying not to feel guilty as she kept eating her food.

"Sitting here and letting him starve." I snarled.

"It's fine, Serene, I'm never better!" but he had a wide fake smile.

Sasuke sighed and held up his lunch to the blonde, "Here." Everyone looked surprised, not having expected Sasuke to be the one to offer his lunch.

"What? No Sasuke, you can't do that. You heard what the sensei said." Sakura looked around nervously, expecting Kakashi-sensei to jump out of nowhere.

"Shush it, Sakura." I hissed. "Making sure someone doesn't pass out from hunger is more important than a teacher. I cannot eat like this." I said firmly.

Sakura glared at the ground, not wanting to admit he would need help, we all did, "We have to get the bell as a team and Kakashi's gone. If Naruto's hungry, he'll be weak and ineffective. That hurts the team and jeopardizes the mission." Sakura swallowed hard looking at her lunch before holding it up to Naruto. I was only half-way surprised. Half because Sakura clearly didn't want to but did, and because Sasuke wanted Naruto to eat.

Naruto looked wide eyed and I scowled at the biting feeling in my stomach when Sakura got too close and smiled. "Just hurry up and eat," Sakura said.

"Yeah, hurry up," More like wanting Sakura away but not giving the feeling much of a second thought as my stomach started to growl again, I started to eat. Nobody noticed Kakashi leaning against a tree just in the tree line, listening to them give up their food to the starving blonde.

"But isn't that your lunch?" Naruto protested. The two could just half it, or was could all just give a quarter of our lunches. He can have a full lunch and we can have most of what we had.

"I'm-I'm on a diet, I mean, I don't eat as much as Sasuke." Sakura was on a diet? She was too skinny as it was. "And Serene's small enough already. Just take it, Naruto."

"I can't take it, I can't move my hands." Naruto explained, pulling on the ropes tying him to the stump. Briefly forgot about that part. "You have to feed me." Sakura was clearly angry at that fact. Bet she wouldn't have any trouble if it was Sasuke.

"Hurry up," Sasuke hissed, scanning the grounds. "He can come back at any minute." Sakura yelled something at Naruto about this being a one time thing and making sure that was clear.

"Clear as a bell, Sakura." Naruto grinned. Sakura looked disgusted as she fed Naruto the first bite. I swallowed what was in my mouth, just pleased he was able to eat as well. And that his eyes closed peacefully, a smile on his lips as he swallowed.

But the swallow was what 'broke the camel's back' because there was a gush of wind that threw my hair back and I grabbed my waist pack ready to pull out a kunai as a smoke bomb went off. It cleared to reveal Kakashi in the center. "YOU!" he snarled, sounding angry, more like furious and it freaked us all out. Naruto screamed, Sakura covered her face shrieking, Sasuke sturdied himself so he wouldn't fall over from the sudden wind while snarling, and I unclipped my kunai pack. The smoke completely cleared and Kakashi straightened up, "You broke the rules. I hope you're ready for the punishment. Any last words?" he seemed to do a jutsu because crackling storm clouds appeared overhead and the ground started to shake.

"Well we couldn't let him starve!" I protested, sounding braver than I felt. Sasuke glared, Sakura was on her knees shaking with fingers in her hair expected to get hit, and Naruto's teeth was chattering.

"You…you said," Naruto stuttered.

"Yes?" Kakashi questioned. I was thinking of how to buy us some time for whatever Kakashi was apparently planning.

Naruto seemed to get his courage up, "Yu said that there were four of us!" Naruto shouted. "That's what you said and that's why…Serene, Sakura and…"

Sasuke took up the 'speech' from there, "We're all on this squad and we're all together."

I swallowed hard, "I guess that means you're going to have to go through all of us for a 'punishment'.

Sakura, not wanting to be left out quickly agreed, "Right! We gave him our lunch because the four of us are one!"

Naruto readily agreed, fighting against the ropes that kept him bound but unable to get free, "Yeah, yeah, believe it! That's right!"

"The four of you are one, that's your excuse?" Kakashi said almost mockingly. Our answer was the three of us sliding into a fighting stance, slightly in front of Naruto. I was in front of Naruto fully, Sakura and Sasuke in front of me. Kakashi seemed to smile, "You passed." I blinked dumbly in confusion. That was the last thing I ever expected. All of us were quiet. "You. Pass." Kakashi repeated, looking at our dumbfounded features.

"What do you mean, how'd we pass?" Sakura asked. The sun started to shine through the dark storm clouds as if…as if a new hope was being born.

Kakashi straightened up smiling, "You're the first group who ever passed. The others did exactly what I said and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, that's true. But those who abandoned their friends are worse than scum."

At the time, I had no idea that first lesson would carry us through the ninja world, shaping us to become who we would be.

"The exercise is over, everyone passes!" Kakashi gave a thumbs up to his new genin team. "Squad seven start it's next mission tomorrow. Let's go home." We all started to walk away, an added spring to our step.

"I knew it! YOU GUYS FORGOT TO UNTIE ME!" Naruto shouted from his post. I laughed, feeling light on my feet as I skipped back to cut the ropes away with my kunai.

As we all went our different ways to home for an actual lunch and rest, I had no idea what the next coming years would hold for us all. A perverted teacher, a hyperactive goofball, a fangirl, an avenger, and me…our team would most certainly be different.

But that didn't matter.

Because watch our shinobi world, we were going to make our mark.

Next: What's up with this? All we've been doing are these boring training missions. Then finally we get the chance at something big and it turns out its just guarding this old man. And he says I'm only a kid and calls me a loser. I won't tell you what I called him but I did say someday I'll be, hey…are you listening to me.


End file.
